Vicente Luque hopes Nick Diaz “recovers” after “sad” video goes viral: “He didn’t look okay”

Vicente Luque is hoping Nick Diaz gets the help he needs.

Luque was supposed to fight Diaz at UFC 310, but the MMA legend was forced out of the bout due to undisclosed reasons. The cancellation came after a viral video appeared to show Diaz trying to light grass on fire in the middle of the night.

https://twitter.com/ParryPunchNews/status/1855479331440697650

Following the video going viral and the fight being off, Luque says he hopes Diaz can be okay and get help if he needs it.

“I don’t know exactly why [it was cancelled],” Luque said to MMAFighting. “I saw that video of him in the streets, and he didn’t look okay. 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. When I saw the video—first, I didn’t know if it was a recent video or not. But, I kept thinking, if it’s recent, I hope he really seeks help to get out of the situation he’s in because Nick is a fighter I follow since before I was in the UFC.”

Vicente Luque says Nick Diaz inspired him

Vicente Luque says Nick Diaz was a big inspiration in his MMA career so he’s hoping he can recover.

“He has inspired me a lot in the past. What he’s done, fighting legends like B.J. Penn, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, Carlos Condit, many big names. You see his accomplishments, and see his state at 40 years of age, that’s not how I want to see any fighter,” Luque added. “This sport is very tough and we dedicate so many years to be able to make a living off this, and to see him in that situation, at his age… We don’t know what he’s going to do from now on, if he’s going to recover, if he’s going to be able to fight again, maybe open a gym and teach, whatever, but we hope for the best. 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.”

With Diaz pulling out of their UFC 310 fight, Vicente Luque will now fight Themba Gorimbo.

Luque is 22-10-1 as a pro and coming off a TKO loss to Joaquin Buckley. Gorimbo, meanwhile, is 14-4 and coming off a decision win over Niko Price.