The TUF 18 Salaries, Or, What the Hell Has Happened to Nate Diaz’s Salary? [UPDATED]
(Oh, *now* we understand why he’s pissed off all the time.)
If the brothers Diaz are known for three things, it’s whooping ass, puffing herb, and saying ridiculously hilarious stuff when a microphone is placed in front of them. Whether they’re discussing the “bitch ass lady sounds” their opponents make in the cage or the merits of throwing in the towel, you’ll never hear a Diaz making some wishy-washy, politically correct statement on behalf of themselves or the UFC, and therein lies their appeal.
Of course, upon glancing over the TUF 18 salaries, one begins to understand why the Diaz brothers are constantly griping over fighter pay. While big bro Nick banked a cool 200k for his post-retirement, pre-re-retirement headlining title fight with Georges St. Pierre at UFC 158, it seems that Nate — who is also a former title challenger, BTW — is barely making more to show than he did in his early post-TUF days (via MMAJunkie):
Nate Diaz: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
def. Gray Maynard: $45,000
Despite hailing from the same season of TUF as Maynard (and actually submitting him in the semifinals), recently fighting for a title, and collecting 4 “Of the Night” bonuses in each of his past 4 wins, Diaz is somehow making 1/3rd as much as Maynard to show. What. the. fucking. fuck.
It should be noted that Diaz has dropped 2 of his past 3 fights (although his base salary plummeted from $50k/$50k to his current rate prior to his fight with Josh Thomson). It should also be noted that Maynard has dropped 3 of his past 4 fights and has gone 2-3-1 in his past 6, having collected just 1 “Of the Night” bonus in that span.
The rest of the TUF 18 Finale salaries are the standard (also, horrendous) 8k/8k, but what could be the cause of Diaz’s sudden salary drop? His apathy toward his recent matchups? Further fallout from his homophobic tweet? Or was Diaz simply the latest fighter to fall victim to the “Choose Your Salary” wheel that Dana White has hanging in his office next to the photo of the Yakuza member fucking?
We sent an email to Diaz’s manager, Mike Kogan, earlier today that has not yet been returned, but we will keep you updated once we are made aware as to why the white man is so insistent on holding a Diaz down.
Update, 6:30 p.m. ET: Kogan’s e-mailed response to CagePotato is below. We swear, we are not making this up.
Cause I suck as a manager lol
Thank you
Mike
-J. Jones
