October 15, 2024 2:00 pm ET
Daniel Cormier hopes Nick Diaz reveals up in form towards Vicente Luque.
Diaz (26-10 MMA, 7-7 UFC) returns towards Luque (22-10-1 MMA, 15-6 UFC) in a welterweight bout at UFC 310 on Dec. 7 from T-Cellular Area in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+).
Diaz hasn’t competed since a TKO loss to Robbie Lawler in September 2021, when he seemed out of practice in what was his first struggle in additional than six years. Diaz’s group later revealed he was dealing with a neck injury, which hampered his coaching camp.
“The factor about Nick Diaz, for me: I need the man from the images, I’m going to only say it,” Cormier stated on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Chael Sonnen. “I don’t need to see Nick Diaz that’s simply ripped. When he fought Robbie Lawler, I used to be so excited as a result of I used to be like, ‘Man, he’s been again on the triathlons, and he seems to be even higher than he did in his prime.’
“Then when he acquired to the octagon, he seemed nothing like that particular person. He seemed like a man that was pushing 40, that hadn’t fought in lots of, a few years, and I didn’t know if he nonetheless had that struggle in him.” Though Luque has misplaced three of his previous 4 fights, Cormier nonetheless sees the as soon as streaking contender as a stern check for Diaz. He worries that the previous Strikeforce champion and UFC title challenger might tarnish his legacy if he doesn’t take Luque significantly and carry out.
“Vicente Luque is regarded as on the decline,” Cormier stated. “I type of judged him based mostly on how badly Joaquin Buckley beat him. However then now watching Joaquin Buckley do what he did to the child that was 18-1 in St. Louis, doing what he did to Stephen Thompson, now I look again at Vicente Luque and marvel if I used to be too fast to judgment.
“Perhaps I didn’t see how good Joaquin Buckley is versus the state of Vicente Luque’s profession. I nonetheless assume that’s quite a bit for Nick Diaz. Nick Diaz struggled with Robbie Lawler, and Robbie Lawler was just one struggle away from retirement. Vicente Luque just isn’t going anyplace. It’s a tricky struggle. I believe for Nick, although, he needs to be actually locked in if he needs to go on the market and never embarrass himself.”
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