Nate Diaz has just one fight on his current UFC contract.
UFC contracts are tough to get out of it. If the promotion doesn’t want you gone, you have to fight it out, satisfying the number of bouts stated on the deal. However, the UFC have clauses that allow them to delay, stall and extend the contract if a fighter turns down an opponent or gets injured.
The UFC also likes to renegotiate a new contract when a fighter has one bout remaining on their deal. The UFC are known to not offer a timely final fight, or a very appealing one, to fighters who pay hardball or refuse a new contract. The UFC has also threatened to cut fighters or ensure that their next contract will be for less money if they don’t accept a certain opponent.
Nate Diaz is currently sitting with just one fight left on his UFC contract. The UFC almost certainly want to keep the younger Diaz brother around, since he is one of the most popular figures in the sport.
However, will Diaz test the UFC’s eagerness to keep him by requesting a lucrative contract? The kind that the UFC seems loathe to give fighters. If Diaz does request a lot of money to stick with the Octagon, there’s a chance the UFC declines and then simply doesn’t offer Diaz a fight, keeping him on their books indefinitely.
Former UFC champion Michael Bisping can see a tense situation playing out when Stockton’s finest gets to the negotiating table with Dana White.
“The UFC are very smart and, generally, someone like Nate Diaz isn’t just going to get to fight out of his contract,” Bisping said during his YouTube show (ht The Mirror). “This is just the way they operate. A lot of promotions, they all do it. You negotiate before the final fight of the contract so who knows?”
Bisping said he believed that, if Diaz were free of the UFC, he would have some high-earning potential with other promotions, and other sports.
“I don’t think Dana would ever do a joint promotion with Jake Paul,” he said. “But I would love to see Nate Diaz vs. Jake Paul. I think that would be a tremendous fight but it’s not a case of that.”
Jake Paul, the YouTuber turned 4-0 boxer, has two wins over former MMA champions (Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren). He’s called out Diaz in the past, along with Jorge Masvidal, Conor McGregor, Kamaru Usman and Canelo Alvarez.
However, there doesn’t seem to be much interest coming from Diaz, who recently suggested a fight with Tony Ferguson could be on the table.
If Diaz were to find his way into a Paul Brother production on Showtime, though, he’d likely earn one of, if not the, biggest paydays of his career.