Nate Diaz excited for brother Nick Diaz's UFC return vs. Vicente Luque: 'I don't think there's anybody better'
Three years after his last fight, Nick Diaz has a UFC bout on the books, and his brother Nate Diaz is excited to see his favorite fighter back in action.
Nick is scheduled to step back into the UFC’s octagon on Aug. 3 for a welterweight co-main bout against Vicente Luque at UFC on ABC 7 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Seeing his brother fly across the globe for a scrap is something that tickled his younger brother Nate.
“He’s going to go to f*cking Saudi Arabia,” Diaz told MMA Junkie with a laugh. “F*ck, huh?”
It’s been a long time since the Diaz brothers were active fighters together.
Nate, who has been regularly active over the years, is scheduled to compete in a boxing match against Jorge Masvidal on Saturday in Anaheim, Calif., in a rematch from their inaugural BMF title bout at UFC 244. It will be the third time the younger sibling has competed since Nick has been on the sidelines.
The one-year elder was last in action at UFC 266 in September 2021 in a TKO loss in a middleweight bout against former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler. It was Nick’s first fight since 2015, and the fourth consecutive appearance in which he failed to record a win.
With some time off from fighting, Nate is expecting his brother to return in a big way against Luque, who has also struggled to produce positive results as of late, dropping three of his last four.
“Luque’s a fighter, he’ll come to fight,” Diaz said. “And you guys know Nick, so that’s what that is. You’re going to have a couple of animals in there. I don’t think there’s anybody better than Nick, so we’ll see what happens.”
The brothers have been working in separate camps in preparation for their fights. With Nate focused solely on the sweet science of boxing at home in California, Nick has been mixing the martial arts in Texas. However, according to Nate, the plan is to get together after his fight this weekend to finalize training and the gameplan for his brother’s big return to the cage.