Former welterweight contender Nate Diaz has admitted that pay had nothing to do with his UFC exit.
The Stockton native has been out of the cage since his UFC 279 clash with Tony Ferguson last September. Originally slated to face Khamzat Chimaev, the bout with ‘El Cucuy’ was made after a bad weight miss. In the makeshift pay-per-view main event, Nate Diaz won by fourth-round submission.
That victory was a massive one for the former title challenger, as it made him a free agent. For months prior to UFC 279, Nate Diaz was vocal about his desire to get out of his contract. Now out, the longtime fan favorite will make his boxing debut against Jake Paul in August.
However, Nate Diaz didn’t want out of the UFC strictly for the payday from ‘The Problem Child’. On the Pat McAfee Show, the former title challenger discussed the end of his tenure. There, he admitted that he’s been wanting out of his UFC deal for ten years now, but not due to pay.
In the interview, Nate Diaz admitted the Dana White-led company paid him well, even when he complained about it the most. Nonetheless, he left the UFC because he wanted to box, and it has nothing to do with the payday.
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“I was long ahead of this s*it, before this YouTube boxing s*it showed up,” Nate Diaz stated in the interview. “I was on a mission to get out of my UFC contract ten years ago. I’ve been trying, [but] I got paid really good in the UFC. The whole time when I b*tched about it when I was younger, I was just making sure I was getting more.”
He continued, “I wanted to take more than I gave out of it. My plan was to get out and do exactly what I’m doing right now. Ten years ago… Every fight I had, I was doubling up and doubling up, and that helped slow my roll on the way out. Now these f*ckers are showing up like they’re saving the day, and this is the mission I’ve been on the whole time.”
What do you make about these comments? Are you excited for Nate Diaz vs. Jake Paul?
