McGregor: If Diaz wants a trilogy fight, it has to be at 155
Conor McGregor: “Now I’m the 155 pound world champion, now if he wants that fight, he must come down — that’s a fair trade.”
When Conor McGregor fought Nate Diaz the first time it was on such short notice that Diaz didn’t have time to cut, so the fight was made at welterweight. And Diaz won. It was a huge financial success, the second biggest fight in league history with 1.5 million buys. The rematch was the biggest fight in mixed martial arts history.
Given that McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather was apparently the biggest selling bout in combat sports history, the trilogy fight will undoubtedly set a new record. During a recent interview with the BBC, McGregor
I’m the 155 pound champion,” said McGregor, as transcribed by BJPenn.com. “I faced him at 170, he beat me, then I rematched him at 170, I beat him. Now I’m the 155 pound world champion, now if he wants that fight, he must come down — that’s a fair trade. I didn’t ask for the rematch at a lower weight, I asked for the rematch at the exact same weight. I thought that was a fair play move on my behalf and I came in and I won. So, now I won that and I won the 155 title after that, so if he wants the fight he has to make that 155 pound limit.
On June 23, 2007, Nate Diaz won The Ultimate Fighter 5, which came with a six-figure contract. However, the contract was for multiple fights, and could take years to hit $100,000. He was 22 years old.
On April 20, 2013, Diaz fought Josh Thompson, and lost, earning a disclosed purse of just $15,000. There was undoubtedly a locker room bonus, but he wasn’t getting rich. When you lose in the UFC, your contracted pay stays the same. Next fight was a win over Gray Maynard. Diaz’s contract paid him $30,000.
Then the UFC signed his Cesar Gracie teammate Gil Melendez after a bidding war with Bellator. Gil’s contract guaranteed 75% of his fights would be on PPV, with a threshhold lower than any fighter in league history. El Nino’s show money his very first fight was $175,000. Melendez won only one of his five fights since, a decision over Diego Sanchez.
Diaz apparently learned what his teammate was making, and asked to be released from contract. At one point he was even pulled from the UFC rankings.
Diaz finally fought again, vs. Rafael Dos Anjos. His contracted income had now escalated to $20,000 to show and $20,000 to win. Diaz lost, and was fined 20% of his purse for missing weight, so he made $16,000. That was his only fight in 2014. He was 29 years old.
The next year Diaz beat Michael Johnson in a Fight of the Night, making him 20+20+50. $90,000 seems like a lot of money, but it was his only fight in 2015, and you have to back out management and trainer percentages, taxes, other training expenses, and more.
He was now 30. His older brother Nick lamented every getting him into fighting.
Then Nate was on a boat in Cabo, doing a tequila shot, when he got a phone call. Do you want to fight Conor McGregor at UFC 196, a week from Saturday?
Nate did, and won, and UFC president Dana White said he made over $2,000,000 for what was then reportedly the biggest PPV in league history. Diaz’s team negotiated hard for the rematch at UFC 202, which too was one of the biggest PPVs ever. Diaz lost a controversial majority decision, but reportedly made much more than $2,000,000.
He will play hard to get for the trilogy fight and the purse will go up and up and he will make more still. There is precious little justice in MMA, but Nate Diaz three times getting paid millions, after fighting for pittances for so long, that’s justice.
