Nate Diaz Backs Dana White On UFC Fighter Pay
Nate Diaz has defended Dana White over criticism that UFC fighters are not paid enough.
The UFC has come under fire recently. TKO Group Holdings Inc. agreed to a settlement for two class-action lawsuits brought by former UFC fighters. They claimed the UFC broke antitrust laws to form a monopoly and control what a fighter could make. The first lawsuit, ‘Le et al. vs Zuffa,’ was issued in 2014 by approximately 1,200 fighters. Another lawsuit was issued in 2021. While the lawsuit has been settled, the payout still needs to be approved by the court.
UFC’s Lawsuit
“On March 13, 2024, TKO reached an agreement to settle all claims asserted in both class action lawsuits ([Cung] Le and [Kajan] Johnson) for an aggregate amount of $335 million payable by the Company and its subsidiaries in installments over an agreed-upon period of time. The terms will be memorialized in a long form agreement and then submitted to the court for approval. The Company anticipates that the settlement amount will be deductible for tax purposes,” TKO Group Holdings said
That created the narrative that the UFC was not giving back to the fighters. Diaz has been fighting outside the UFC, earning more money than he has had with the UFC. He boxed Jake Paul last year and lost a unanimous decision. It is claimed that he earned $500,000 for the fight as a guarantee. That is without the subsequent PPV money.
Diaz was also offered the chance to fight Paul in an MMA rematch. This would be in the PFL. Paul made a $10 million offer, while Donn Davis stated he was willing to go up to $15 million. Diaz turned it down, as he will now box Jorge Masvidal on July 6. It is a rematch of their UFC 244 clash, which Masvidal won in 2019. The fight was stopped at the end of round three after a cut over Diaz’s eye. Nate has not fought in the UFC since beating Tony Ferguson at UFC 279. While he has defended the UFC’s pay structure, he is making more outside of it.
Diaz On White
“I don’t think people have the concept of what money is and how much. I think Dana White gets a…bad rap. I’m not giving him a good one, but bro, he’s paying a lot more people a lot more money than…people think. I just don’t think people know what’s what
“I want more money, too. Give those….some more money, give me more money too. But he’s paying a lot of people a lot of money, more than the boxing [fighters]. As far as combat sports say, boxing pays the highest-paid fighters a lot more than the UFC has. But the UFC, I think pays a lot more people a lot of money. He pays the whole roster a bunch of…[stuff]. People when they make this…happen, though, they should get their own [stuff],” Diaz said
Diaz’s comments leave the door open for a potential UFC return. Conor McGregor has called for the Diaz trilogy, which could happen later.
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