Over the last decade, Nate Diaz has been one of the biggest names in mixed martial arts but his absence from the octagon likely hasn’t done him any favors.
The Younger of the two Diaz brothers sprung into superstardom when he scored an unlikely win over the seemingly unstoppable Conor McGregor back in 2016. Since then, the Stockton native managed to rack up millions of followers across social media; as fans fell in love with him being unapologetically himself.
Now, his ‘don’t give a f***’ personality may have landed him in hot water with the UFC. According to Michael Bisping, Nate Diaz’s venture into boxing and subsequent defeat to Jake Paul has put a dent in his negotiation power with the promotion.
“Ever since he beat Conor McGregor, he went into another level of superstar,” Bisping said. “And his paychecks are gigantic.”
“I don’t know what they are, but I do know he gets paid very handsomely.”
Bisping continued.
“Because he rolled the dice by boxing Jake Paul and he lost to Jake Paul, I really feel that would have massively, and maybe I’m wrong, that has damaged his negotiation power.”
“You go out there, you get beat by Jake Paul… When you got beat fair and square, got dropped, you’re not gonna come back and command multi-million dollar paychecks from the UFC when your stock got hurt so badly.”
Related: Jake Paul vs Nate Diaz Highlights Video
Nate Diaz has flirted with the idea of returning to the octagon after an almost three-year hiatus.
Diaz last fought at UFC 279 where he earned a submission victory against Tony Ferguson. Since then, the 39-year-old has fought twice in the squared circle.
His boxing debut would see him take a unanimous decision loss to the aforementioned Jake Paul. However, his second outing went much better as he was able to outbox fellow UFC veteran Jorge Masvidal to claim his own decision victory.
Listen to what Michael Bisping had to say about Nate Diaz’s status with the UFC below.