Nate Diaz
For many years Nate Diaz was clearly frustrated that the UFC weren’t giving him the money and the promotional push that he deserved, and so it’s a testament to the fighter that he’s since becoming one of the most in-demand stars on the roster.
Rewind several years to 2012 and Diaz was losing to Benson Henderson for the lightweight title – the start of a disappointed run of just one win in four fights.
Twice during that period, Diaz sat out for a year in protest at being underpaid, before eventually returning to beat Michael Johnson in late 2015, then send a profanity laden message live on FOX that he wanted to fight the UFC’s biggest star Conor McGregor next.
It proved to be a stroke of genius as when McGregor’s scheduled opponent pulled out a few months later, the UFC drafted in Diaz as his short-notice replacement.
Diaz would then shock the world by becoming the first fighter to defeat McGregor in the Octagon, and banked $500,000 for his troubles.
Diaz cashed in n the inevitable rematch too with a $2 million payday, along with a share of the revenue from the biggest pay-per-view in UFC history.
McGregor won by a narrow majority decision this time around, but Diaz was now a multi-millionaire and spent the next three years out of the Octagon.
He eventually reemerged at UFC 241 in August and showed little sign of ring rust as he defeated Anthony Pettis and then called out Jorge Masvidal for his next fight.
It shows just how far Diaz stock has risen that the UFC has now made the fight the headliner at the next big PPV at Madison Square Garden in New York City and even had a ‘BMF’ belt specially made for the occasion.
