Daniel Cormier has admitted that he was left stunned by the UFC’s announcement that Vicente Luque had been chosen as the opponent for the 40-year-old Nick Diaz’s comeback fight at UFC On ABC 7 in August after a three-year layoff.
“I was very shocked,” Cormier told ESPN. “After watching Nick Diaz the last time, I was like, ‘OK, he’s done.’ But when I heard the news, I’m excited. I got so excited because it’s like, how often do we get an opportunity to see a guy that meant so much to us? I watched him in Strikeforce, I watched him do all that.”
However, like many others, Cormier sees the 32-year-old Luque as a tough challenge for Diaz to overcome at this late stage in his career, and having only fought once in the last nine years he questions why the Stockton native wasn’t paired up against another aging veteran like Tony Ferguson (who will fight Michael Chiesa on the card) instead.
“Now, the matchup, that’s a little worrisome for me because Robbie Lawler seemed to be at the same stage in his career as him.
““Vicente Luque is not there. This is a much more dangerous fight for Nick Diaz. I just hope that he shows a better form this time.
“Honestly, man, excitement because I get to see a guy that I’ve watched for a long time. Confusion in terms of who the matchup is. Tony Ferguson’s fighting on the card, too. Put them together. That makes more sense to me.”
Despite his reservations, DC still welcomes the fact that a fan favorite like Diaz will gets another chance to compete on the big stage.
“Every great champion has one night left. So, for me, it’s about seeing if Nick has one more night. He might not, and hey, give him the benefit of the doubt. If he goes out and looks like he did last time, let’s be done with the Nick Diaz experiment. Shoot, man. This dude has earned an opportunity to go out there one more time and see if he can do something special.”
