JERSEY CITY, NJ – Nick Diaz is returning to MMA against Vicente Luque, but apparently that wasn’t the original plan.
According to Kevin Hollandwhich returns this Saturday at UFC 302 against Michal Oleksiejczuk, the promotion offered him to fight Diaz. However, despite Diaz being a big name, Holland (25-11 MMA, 12-8 UFC) had to decline.
“I was supposed to fight at 170 against a big-name opponent, but they said he couldn’t fight until August and I said, ‘Damn, that’s a long time.’ And they said, ‘Bro, it’s just one more month.’ And I was like, ‘Nah, that’s too long,’” Holland told MMA Junkie and other reporters at UFC 302 Media Day on Wednesday. “So I achieved this and I’m happy with it. I don’t think this (another) fight will come back because I see he just got a yellow card, so let’s see what happens next.”
In addition to the proposed date for Diaz’s fight, which is August 3, Holland (25-11 MMA, 12-8 UFC) did not want to participate in the flight to Abu Dhabi, where Diaz’s fight with Luque is taking place.
“Oh yes, it was in Abu Dhabi,” Holland said. “No, no, I’m not going to Abu Dhabi.”
Holland wasn’t surprised to receive the offer from Diaz, who has fought just once in the last nine years. He knew the former Strikeforce champion would return eventually and was confident of a possible showdown.
“I knew he was going to come back to fight, so I thought I would smoke him and then smoke Luque too,” Holland said. “These two are fighting, so they can smoke each other. Two big joints.
For more information on the card, visit the MMA Junkie events hub to UFC 302.
