The issues between the UFC and Nick and Nate Diaz have been well documented. The Diaz brothers feel that they’re draws in an era when the UFC is sorely lacking stars to carry their pay-per-view cards while the UFC has gone on record that they feel that they’re fine without them and have said that Nate Diaz “doesn’t move the needle.” This all took place during very contentious contract negotiations.
Nate was on Chael Sonnen’s podcast and discussed the ways that he feels he’d been wronged in the negotiation process leading up to his title fight (as transcribed by MMA Junkie):
“I went to sign this contract to fight for the title against Henderson, and when I went to sign my contract, they were locking me down for eight fights for sh-tty pay,” Diaz said in an interview on the “You’re Welcome! With Chael Sonnen” podcast. “I was like, ‘This is a world title fight, and you’re going to pay me this chump change?’… I’m like, ‘OK, this is ridiculous, still, because this is a world title fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. That means I’m fighting to be the No. 1 fighter in the world at 155 pounds.’ I think it’s ridiculous because the No. 1 in any sport is probably a millionaire – in golf, in tennis and in soccer.
He went on to explain the motivation for asking for a new deal–the UFC had told him they could renegotiate if he ever found himself unhappy, and he was unhappy plus willing to take a fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov if he could redo his deal. That didn’t happen and it led to a biter situation that stretched out for months and played out in public.
Diaz still feels he’s underpaid (among other issues) but says he’s ready to get back to it:
“I feel like I’ve been taken advantage of for a lot of years with the whole situation,” Diaz said. “More so because I kind of grew up in this, and I didn’t understand or know what was what with money and contracts, and what was happening, until one morning I woke and for some reason I was like, ‘Hold up. I’ve been really underappreciated, underpaid, under-all-kinds-of-sh-t.’
“I wanted to try to get my situation fixed. I was trying to get a fight going on, but at the same time I didn’t want – it was a whole mess going on. But everything got cleared, up and I’m ready to get back to work and do my thing.”