Dana White announced the return of Nick Diaz and Tony Ferguson as part of the full main card of the upcoming Fight Night event on August 3.
UFC President and CEO Dana White announced the full main card for the August 3, 2024 Fight Night event in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Wednesday morning and broke news of the return of two fan-favorite contenders in Nick Diaz and Tony Ferguson.
Fighting for the first time since 2021, former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz will be taking on the perennially ranked Vicente Luque. Diaz, 40, rose to prominence as part of the UFC where he debuted as a 20 year-old prospect back in 2003 and went on to have an accomplished career in promotions around the world before returning to the company in 2011. The older brother of prominent UFC figure Nate Diaz, Nick lost his first fight in five years back in 2021 when he took on former champion Robbie Lawler. The currently fourteenth ranked Luque is looking to bounce back from a March loss to Joaquin Buckley in Atlantic City. Notably, the fight will be a five round co-main event.
Also on the card will be former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson who will be fighting at welterweight for the third time in the promotion in what UFC CEO Dana White said could be his final fight. Ferguson, 40, will be seeking his first victory since 2019 as he takes on another The Ultimate Fighter winner in Michael Chiesa. Chiesa, 36, will be looking to snap his own three fight skid as he fights for the first time since July of last year.
Rounding out the main card will be a bantamweight bout between former title challenger Marlon “Chito” Vera and former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo and another newly announced bout between strawweights Mackenzie Dern and Loopy Godinez.
Headlining the event will be a fight between top bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen and undefeated prospect Umar Nurmagomedov. The event will take place at the Etihad Arena which has hosted the last several UFC events in Abu Dhabi.
