Nick Diaz out of UFC 310 following troubling rumors

Zane Simon

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Publish Date: 11/17/2024

The UFC's plans to bring Nick Diaz back to the Octagon in 2024 appear to have hit another speedbump.

The former Strikeforce champion has been largely inactive in MMA following an announced retirement from competition back in 2013. In the years following that move, the Stockton native has only competed twice in MMA. Once against Anderson Silva in 2015, and then again against Robbie Lawler in 2021. During his time away from the cage, Diaz had run ins with drug testing authorities over marijuana use, as well a couple brushes with police.

Nick Diaz looking for another comeback

All throughout the last decade, and despite his inactivity, reports have regularly surfaced about Nick Diaz's desire to keep fighting. The Cesar Gracie Jiu Jitsu black belt has often teased a return to competition, including releasing training footage. In 2021 he made good on those plans with a long awaited rematch against former UFC champion Robbie Lawler. Unfortunately the bout only created more questions than it answered.

Diaz entered the cage looking notably out of shape. Although parts of the fight were competitive early, eventually Diaz quit in the cage early in round 3.

"I'm glad I at least put on a show," Diaz told the audience after the bout. "I knew I had it coming. I had a lot of stress coming into this one, especially it being an awful long time. I don't have no excuses. I had a long time off and I knew I had it coming. I don't know how this fight got set up. I had a switch-up in my whole management setup. The way the fight got set up, it was just a bum rap, y'know?"

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Themba Gorimbo replaces Diaz at UFC 310

Given that Nick Diaz essentially stopped fighting midway through his last bout, and given his strange statements after the fight, it was something of a shock when the promotion announced they were booking him once again at UFC 310.

This time around it wasn't even going to be a long-awaited legacy bout. The world's largest MMA promotion had the 41-year-old set to take on still top-ranked welterweight Vicente Luque. Fans initially expected their fight to take place at UFC on ABC: Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov back in August. However, travel issues kept Diaz from making the trip to Abu Dhabi.

Instead, the UFC re-booked the contest for UFC 310 in Vegas on December 7th. Now it appears more and more likely the bout won't happen at all. MMA Mania's Alex Behunin broke news that Diaz withdrew from the card. The UFC will replace Diaz with Themba Gorimbo against Luque. Gorimbo enters the bout on four straight victories. Most recently he defeated Niko Price by unanimous decision back in October.

Troubling rumors

The UFC has given no official reason for Diaz's withdrawal, but social media has surfaced troubling rumors. On November 9th, video surfaced apparently showing a shirtless Diaz outside at night, trying to light some grass on fire with a lighter. In the recording, a voice can be heard asking Diaz 'Are you okay?' To which Diaz replies, 'Yes!' and 'What do you want?'

On November 10th an Instagram user who appears to have had a close relationship with Diaz posted a message targeted at the fighter. "@nickdiaz209," the message reads, "Drug addiction doesn't last forever. You either find sobriety, or it takes your life."

It's unclear at this time if these posts were responsible for Nick Diaz's removal from UFC 310. Even simply based on Diaz's age, inactivity and most recent performances, however, it seems for the best that this latest fight has been called off.