Report: UFC's Nick Diaz Eyed Georges St-Pierre, More Before Taking Luque Fight

UFC veteran Nick Diaz will be making his return for the first time in nearly three years when he fights Vicente Luque at UFC Abu Dhabi on August 3, but he reportedly had been hoping to return sooner against some bigger names.

MMA journalist Ariel Helwani reported on Wednesday's episode of The MMA Hour that prior to accepting the Luque fight, Diaz was "pushing for" fights against UFC legend Georges St. Pierre, Colby Covington, Michael "Venom" Page and Kevin Holland.

Helwani noted that Diaz called for the Covington fight to take place at UFC 300 last month, and he was hoping that the Page and Holland fights would land on the UFC 303 card headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler on June 29. St. Pierre has been retired since 2017, so that fight was virtually impossible.

Diaz will be fighting for the first time since he faced Robbie Lawler at UFC 266 in September 2021. He was fighting for the first time since 2015, and he went on to suffer a third-round TKO loss. He has not won a fight since 2011.

The former Strikeforce and WEC welterweight champion is a fan-favorite who was once one of the biggest stars in MMA, but he will be 41 years old when he steps into the Octagon against Luque, who has a reputation for putting on exciting fights. Still, Helwani noted that Diaz is confident in his chances to be successful in his UFC return.

"He's in Houston training, he has gotten rid of all the baggage, he's gotten rid of all the partying, all that stuff. I'm told he's in a great mental, physical, spiritual space right now," Helwani said.

Helwani added that officials in Abu Dhabi "want Nick Diaz," facilitating his return in the co-main event on the marquee card. The event will be headlined by a No. 1 contender fight between bantamweights Cory Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov.