Nick Diaz’s former coach expresses concerns about his UFC return ahead of Vicente Luque fight

UFC star Nick Diaz’s upcoming return to the Octagon doesn’t make sense, in the mind of his former longtime coach.

Diaz will face welterweight mainstay Vicente Luque at UFC Abu Dhabi on August 3rd. He returns to the Octagon after a nearly three-year hiatus from fighting, stemming from his loss to Robbie Lawler at UFC 266.

Ahead of his fighting return, Diaz has opted to train with a gym in Texas, instead of at his home gym in Stockton, California. The eldest Diaz brother has been out of the spotlight since his return was announced, and he wasn’t in attendance for his brother’s recent boxing win against Jorge Masvidal.

Diaz’s former coach is concerned about the former UFC title challenger’s preparations for his long-awaited return to the cage.

Coach Cesar Gracie doesn’t agree with Nick Diaz vs. Vicente Luque booking

In a recent interview with Submission Radio, coach Cesar Gracie weighed in on Diaz’s return in Abu Dhabi.

“Nick is a tough guy. But it just doesn’t make that much sense to me where Nick is at in his career,” Gracie said of the Diaz vs. Luque fight (h/t MMA Mania). “It’s not the fight I would have made, and don’t even know what’s going on with that fight, to be honest with you…

“It’s a toss-up what’s gonna happen. I don’t really see him training with fighters. And I don’t know what’s going on with that fight.”

When further pressed on Diaz’s relationship with his now-former teammates, Gracie explained that it was strictly a business decision to train in Texas for this camp.

“He’s just not really part of the training with the guys right now,” Gracie said of Diaz. “Like normally right now, he’d be training with Jake Shields. He’d be training with his brother. He would have been sparring. Nick was not there last night, for example, for Nate’s fight…

“No bad blood or anything whatsoever. It’s just I think that the people that are holding on to Nick right now in Texas wanna hold on to Nick. And so I hope they take good care of him.”

Diaz will look to earn his first UFC win since a unanimous decision victory over BJ Penn at UFC 137. Since then, he’s winless in his last four fights, including defeats to Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva (later overturned to a no-contest).

It’s uncertain if Diaz still possesses the skillset needed to compete with the best welterweights, but he’ll have the chance to prove himself against Luque. In the meantime, Gracie hopes that Diaz is well-equipped for the latest chapter in his career.