Report: Nick Diaz Withdraws from UFC 310 Fight vs. Vicente Luque ...

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Nick Diaz's highly anticipated return to the UFC octagon is reportedly set to be delayed once again.

According to Alex Behunin of MMA Mania, Diaz will not compete in his scheduled fight against Vicente Luque at UFC 310. Jed Meshew of MMA Fighting later confirmed the report.

Both Behunin and Meshew added that Themba Gorimbo is in line to replace Diaz as Luque's opponent at the Dec. 7 event in Las Vegas.

It isn't yet clear why Diaz is pulling out of the fight, but it would have been his first bout since a technical knockout loss to Robbie Lawler at UFC 266 in September 2021.

Diaz was supposed to make his return against Luque as part of the UFC on ABC card in Abu Dhabi in August, but the fight was postponed due to Diaz experiencing travel issues.

The 41-year-old Diaz was once among the most popular fighters in UFC, as he made his debut for the promotion in 2003 before stints in PRIDE, EliteXC and Strikeforce.

Diaz was the inaugural Strikeforce welterweight champion, and while he never held a title in UFC, he fought for the UFC welterweight title on a couple of occasions.

Over the years, Diaz faced some of the biggest names in UFC history, including B.J Penn, Carlos Condit, Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva.

After losing to St-Pierre in 2013 and fighting Silva to a no contest in 2015 due to Silva failing a drug test, Diaz took a hiatus for over six years.

He returned to UFC in 2021, losing to Lawler, before taking yet another extended break from the sport.

Although Diaz has a career record of 26-10 with two no contests, he has not won a fight since 2011 when he beat Penn by unanimous decision.

With Diaz reportedly out of the fold for UFC 310, Luque will now look to get back on track against Gorimbo.

Luque, 32, is 22-10-1 in his career, but he has lost three of his past four fights, including a second-round TKO loss to Joaquin Buckley back in March.

The 33-year-old Gorimbo has won four fights in a row and will carry a career record of 14-4 into the bout, including a mark of 4-1 in his five UFC outings.

UFC 310 is shaping up to be a stacked card with the flyweight title bout between Alexandre Pantoja and Kai Asakura set to serve as the main event.