Nate Diaz has not fought in a year and recently tweeted some plans that got coverage internationally.
“UFC offered me title fight in any weight class,” wrote Diaz. “I’m kool though. I’ll give em a shot when they do something good. On to the next sport for now.”
The reference to next sport was accompanied by boxing glove images.
https://twitter.com/NateDiaz209/status/939319334681243649
This is just the lattest in Diaz’s long, strange, mostly woefully under-compensated trip through the highest levels of the sport.
On June 23, 2007, Nate Diaz won The Ultimate Fighter 5, which came with a six-figure contract. He thought he was rich. However, the contract was for multiple fights, and could take years to hit $100,000. He was 22 years old.
On April 20, 2013, Diaz fought Josh Thompson, and lost, earning a disclosed purse of just $15,000. There was undoubtedly a locker room bonus, but he wasn’t getting rich. When you lose in the UFC, your contracted pay stays the same. Next fight was a win over Gray Maynard. Diaz’s contract paid him $30,000.
Then the UFC signed his Cesar Gracie teammate Gil Melendez after a bidding war with Bellator. Gil’s contract guaranteed 75% of his fights would be on PPV, with a threshold lower than any fighter in league history. El Nino’s show money his very first fight was $175,000.
Diaz apparently learned what his teammate was making, and asked to be released from his contract. At one point he was even pulled from the UFC rankings. And Melendez won only one of his six UFC fights since, a decision over Diego Sanchez.
Diaz finally fought again, vs. Rafael Dos Anjos. His contracted income had now escalated to $20,000 to show and $20,000 to win. Diaz lost and was fined 20% of his purse for missing weight, so made $16,000. That was his only fight in 2014. He was 29 years old.
The next year Diaz beat Michael Johnson in a Fight of the Night, making 20+20+50. $90,000 seems like a lot of money, but it was his only fight in 2015, and you have to back out management and trainer percentages, taxes, other training expenses, and more.
He was now 30. His older brother Nick lamented every getting him into fighting.
Then Nate was on a boat in Cabo, doing a tequila shot, when he got a phone call. Do you want to fight Conor McGregor at UFC 196, a week from Saturday?
Nate said yes, and won, and UFC president Dana White said he made over $2,000,000 for what was then reportedly the biggest PPV in league history. Diaz’s team negotiated hard for the rematch at UFC 202, which too was one of the biggest PPVs ever. Diaz lost a controversial majority decision, but reportedly made much more than $2,000,000. That was August 20, 2016.
He hasn’t fought since. The fight that makes financial sense for him is Conor McGregor, and who knows when Conor fights again. So who knows when Nate fights again. The only thing that’s certain is that when he does fight, he’ll finally be getting paid.
