Nate Diaz was not about to listen to Bruce Buffer’s message of subservience
Nate Diaz isn’t here for Bruce Buffer’s steaming pile of bullshit.
The UFC announcer recently attacked Diaz for the Stockton native’s issues with his promoter. His message was one of raw servility, saying Diaz should be bowing to Dana White:
”Nate, I heard you made 7 or more million dollars in your last fight,” he continued. “I don’t want to hear you complaining about being under promoted by the UFC. You should be thanking the UFC and bowing to Dana White every time you see him. Ari Emanuel, Patrick Whitesell.”
While it’s common to hear fans gripe about fighters complaining about their treatment by their promoter (the UFC, which sold for over 4 billion dollars in 2016, is estimated to share less than 17% of their revenue with fighters — Diaz’ last two fights grossed upwards of 147 million dollars) it’s rare that the message of corporate subservience comes through so brazenly. No one likes to be told to ‘bow’, least of all Americans. Nate Diaz told Bruce Buffer exactly what he thought of that.
Bruce Buffer wtf get off the Ufc nuts your bowing down right now tellling me to bow down? fuck that u keep bowing down.
I Bow down to no one ever
for alll the money n the world…— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) August 27, 2018
Nate Diaz’s complaints with the promotion go back a long time. He was headlining shows for a paltry $15K to show and $15K to win, and despite evidence to the contrary- Diaz’ title shot against Ben Henderson did excellent TV ratings– Dana White dismissed his desire for better pay, as Diaz “can’t move the needle”. That story is extremely common. What follows next is the unusual part.
Diaz, unlike the vast majority of fighters on the UFC roster, got a chance to get even. He showed up in fantastic shape against Michael Johnson and put up a Fight of the Night performance before issuing the most soul-stirring callout of Conor McGregor we had ever seen. When Rafael Dos Anjos got injured, this vaulted him into a UFC 196 fight against the featherweight champion, in which he shocked the world by choking McGregor out in the second round. The rematch at UFC 202 broke all UFC Pay-Per-View records, landing Diaz the payday Bruce Buffer spoke of. It did better numbers than McGregor’s hugely hyped lightweight title fight against Eddie Alvarez later that year, proving that Nate does, indeed, “move the needle.”
His latest issues with the company stemmed from the UFC’s apparent opacity in regard to McGregor’s return timetable, their ‘underpromotion’ of him, and the way Dana White misrepresented his absence from the UFC schedule. According to Diaz, he had been very willing to fight, but was facing troubles on the legal front, in the form of a lawsuit the UFC declined to help him settle.
Nate Diaz might or might not fight at UFC 230 (he probably will). Just don’t tell him to bow down.