It appears that UFC 230 is down a fight, as Nate Diaz will not compete on the Madison Square Garden card following Dustin Poirier’s injury-related exit.
UFC President Dana White recently told the Los Angeles Times that “Diaz also will not fight on the card.” The Las Vegas-based promotion has not made a formal announcement regarding the lightweight bout, which was expected to serve as the UFC 230 co-main event.
ESPN’s Ariel Helwani was able to reach Diaz following Poirier’s withdrawal, and the Stockton, Calif., native’s response was brief: “I’ll just fight Khabib [Nurmagomedov] when he’s ready.”
Diaz hasn’t competed since losing a majority decision to Conor McGregor in a rematch at UFC 202 in August 2016. Nurmagomedov just defeated McGregor via fourth-round submission to retain his lightweight crown in the UFC 229 headliner.
UFC 230 takes place on Nov. 3 at Madison Square Garden in New York and is headlined by a heavyweight championship tilt between Daniel Cormier and Derrick Lewis.