Nate Diaz claims Fanmio screwed him out of $9 million.
Less than two weeks removed from his critically acclaimed clash with Jorge Masvidal on pay-per-view, TMZ Sports reports that the ‘Stockton Samurai’ is suing Fanmio and promoter Solomon Engel for fraud and breach of contract. Diaz alleges that he was promised a $10 million payday for his role in the boxing match. He received $1 million upfront but has not yet received the remaining 90% of the money he claims to have been guaranteed.
The former UFC star’s attorney, Jeremiah Reynolds, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Miami on Monday.
Diaz alleges that Engel has refused the pay the remaining balance after the event failed to produce the profit he expected to make off the fight. The former UFC star also states in the suit that Engel declined to pay him because his wife may divorce him over the financial loss.
“Fanmio and Engel are now reneging on their written and oral promises and guarantees to pay $9 million owing to Diaz because they claim they are going to lose money on the event,” the suit states. “In a flurry of desperate calls to Diaz’s representatives following the event, Engel despondently groveled that he was going to lose more money than he had anticipated on the event if he paid Diaz what he had promised and that his wife might divorce him because of the financial losses. Engel went so far as to threaten he might have to declare bankruptcy to avoid paying Diaz what he owed” (h/t MMA Fighting).
Ariel Helwani also addressed the lawsuit during Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour, which you can watch below:
Nate Diaz earned a majority decision over ‘Gamebred’ in his sophomore boxing appearance
In what was just his second time competing in a boxing ring, Nate Diaz won the bout via majority decision, evening the series with ‘Gamebred’ after coming up short in their 2019 BMF title clash under the UFC banner.
The event, which aired live on PPV via Fanmio, DAZN, and UFC FightPass, emanated from the Honda Center in Anaheim and drew a reported sold-out crowd of 18,040 per a post-event press release.
Pay-per-view numbers for the event are currently unknown, but the fact that Fanmio lowered the initial cost from $79.99 to $49.99 in the weeks leading up to the fight was not a good sign.
