From time to time in the fight game, planned pairings will have to be scrubbed for various reasons, be it due to a fighter missing weight at the weigh-in the day before the event, a contestant being rebooked for another contest on another evening, or, in the case of COVID-19 in 2020, entire cards being scrubbed by safety measures.
One welterweight in the UFC had been booked to fight an opponent twice this year. Both bookings were scrapped without a single punch being thrown. Back in the summer, No. 14 contender Vicente Luque (22-10-1 MMA, 15-6 UFC) was slated to make his 22nd walk to the Octagon to square off against Nick Diaz (26-10 2 NC MMA, 7-7, 1 NC UFC), a former champion in three different organizations.
Prior to the Aug. 3 contest in Abu Dhabi taking place on ABC, the bout was postponed after Diaz wouldn’t be able to make the trip to the United Arab Emirates. Subsequent to the original cancellation, the bout was rescheduled to occur this coming Saturday night, Dec. 7, during UFC 310 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Rescheduled Bout Also Canceled
A few weeks ago, however, Diaz bowed out of the pairing for the second time in as many scheduled bookings. This time, however, the reason behind the contest going by the boards was much more discouraging in nature.
Not long before the Dec. 7 reschedule was called off, Diaz went viral on social media in a short video where he attempted to set a blade of grass ablaze. In light of the video’s release, Luque expressed his concern about Diaz’ wellbeing.
https://twitter.com/ParryPunchNews/status/1855479331440697650
“I saw that video of him in the streets, and he didn’t look okay,” Luque said at the time. “And more than anything, I hope his family and he’s taking care of himself. I hope he recovers and goes back to his best state possible. It’s very sad to see him at that stage, because I don’t want that for anyone, much less a man that has inspired so many.”
Luque Ready to Turn the Page on Diaz Contest
With the fight against Nick Diaz scrapped for the second time in succession, Vicente Luque has been rebooked to meet Themba Gorimbo (14-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC during the UFC 310 undercard from the aforementioned T-Mobile Arena. Wednesday, Luque attended UFC 310’s media day, where he discussed having a planned fight get canceled twice over.
“When I was supposed to fight in August, the UFC wanted this fight, it was a big fight,” Luque said of the original booking versus Diaz. “I said ‘Okay, let’s do it, but I want to fight this year.’ I told (manager Ali Abdelaziz) ‘I’ll be ready for anybody’. I knew ‘Maybe it’s not going to happen, so I’ll stay ready for whoever steps up’ and [it’s] great that Themba steps up and now, we get a fight.”
As far as a possible third booking between Luque and Diaz, the former is unenthusiastic about the idea.
“At this point, I don’t think it happens again,” he told the assembled media Wednesday. “Maybe, who knows, but I’m up the division. I’m looking to get past Themba.”
