Nate Diaz has always been one of the most outspoken fighters in the UFC, but sometimes throughout his tenure in the promotion, it has landed him in hot water.
Despite having never won a UFC title during his career in the premier promotion, Nate Diaz was always widely considered as one of the biggest stars in the history of the sport.
And after the U.S. president Donald Trump recently revealed that the UFC will hold an event at the White House next year, fans have called for Diaz to make his return to the promotion.
After leaving the UFC in 2022, the Stockton brawler has always left the door open for a UFC return and despite his controversial personality has always had a strong relationship with Dana White.
Diaz launched an impassioned rant after the UFC signed deal with Reebok
Diaz has always been extremely outspoken and that is one of the reasons why he has always been a favorite amongst fans, however, sometimes it landed him in hot water with the UFC.
In 2014, the promotion announced a huge ground-breaking sponsorship deal with Reebok to become the exclusive outfitter and apparel provider for the UFC.
At the time it was a huge deal and the promotion figured it would be a huge step for the sport to break into the mainstream, making it look more professional.
However, it didn’t sit well with a lot of the fighters in the promotion at the time as it took away their opportunity to gain money from sponsors on their fight kit and also took away their potential to express their personality through their fight kit.
“I think it’s silly that it’s going to be like we’re all a big-a– cult. The same guys wearing the same things. We’re already walking around the streets and people are like, ‘Hey the UFC.’ I don’t even have a name anymore. Now you’re going to put everyone in the same uniform. It’s like a private school,” Diaz told reporters.
“I think it’s great for the UFC and everything. If they’re going to pay the fighters out too, that’s more than great, because you know the UFC are getting all kinds of money for it… If 20 percent is going to the fighters, where’s the other 80 percent going? I think no one’s saying stuff like that,” Diaz continued.
Diaz was later fined for breaking the rules
Following his impressive win over Michael Johnson in 2015, Diaz was slapped with a hefty fine for breaking the UFC’s Athlete Outfitting Policy, which required fighters to wear Reebok apparel throughout fight week media.
Instead, Diaz sported clothing from the brand Represent, which he owned a share in. After being slapped with the fine, the UFC star took to social media to brush it off.
“Those were #reebokjeans u should’ve just kept the whole cheque I don’t need that baby a– s— anyway,” Diaz said in a post on X.
Diaz wasn’t the only one to have been handed a fine for breaking the rules as former champion Dominick Cruz was also outspoken about the situation.