Nate Diaz has a refund coming from the NSAC

Prior to UFC 202, Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz had words and then tossed a water bottle and energy drink or two at each other. For their parts in the fracas, the Nevada State Athletic Commission fined McGregor 5% of his $3,000,000 show money ($150,000) plus 50 hours of community service, and Diaz 2.5% of his $2,000,000 show money ($50,000) plus 50 hours of community service.

There was a widespread reaction that $150,000 for tossing a can was over reaction. Companies get fined $150,000 when a worker dies. McGregor said he would refuse to fight in Nevada and UFC president said he’d feel the same way in McGregor’s shoes.

Video of the $200,000 crime:

Diaz paid his fine and moved but McGregor resisted and the NSAC recently reduced his fine to $25,000. Now the great Nate is due a refund.

We’re going to reach out to Nate and let him know that what’s fair is fair, said NSAC chairman Anthony Marnell as transcribed by Adam Guillen Jr for MMA Mania. He has an opportunity to come back before us if he’d like to and we will make that as painless and cheap as possible.

I think you heard Attorney General Bateman talk about today was not a percentage of the purse, but a fine that is equivalent and equal for the actions taken. If we were to do that, we could speculate right now that the commission would probably have some sort of reduction and some sort of refund coming back to Nate.

“We do have a refund process if we did re-hear it. I just want to make sure, my number one goal is fairness. Sometimes we’ve gotten out, and I think the public might see us getting really lopsided on some of these things, and I’m really trying to bring that in and keep it on the real. I want to keep it fair for the fighters, and if we do something like we did today, we need to do it for the other.”

McGregor was supposed to pay $150,000, 5% of his show purse. He ended up paying $25,000, or .83% of his purse. Diaz was held less responsible, fined 2.5% to McGregor’s 5%, so Diaz’s percentage should be reduced from .83% to .42% of $2,000,000 or $8,400. So Nate gets $41,600 back.

Having restored some semblance of sanity to the process, it would behoove chairman Marnell to explain what steps are being taken so that it does not happen again, as this was far from the first time the commission has grossly overreached. This was, in fact, as nothing compared to for example suspending Nick Diaz for five years for the demon weed marijuana, or suspending Wanderlei Silva for life for running from a PED test. The NSAC is charged with supporting combat sports, a major engine in the Las Vegas economy. Instead, they have too often in word and deed treated fighters with something like disdain, as if they were criminals. Hopefully, that pattern has now changed, but it would be appropriate and useful to hear it said explicitly.