UFC lightweight Nate Diaz decided to voice his opinion about another fighter on Thursday while using a homophobic slur, and on Friday it cost him $20,000.
Diaz took to Twitter this week to speak out against bantamweight fighter Bryan Caraway, boasting that he received a Submission of the Night bonus only after the original recipient, Pat Healy, was suspended for failing a post-fight drug test for marijuana.
While the message Diaz was stating was his own opinion, the use of a homophobic slur in doing so brought down the UFC hammer after the violation of the recently instituted fighter code of conduct.
It took less than 24 hours for the UFC to decide Diaz’s punishment, which will result in a brief suspension (which he would have likely sat out anyways after being knocked out in his last fight on April 20) and a hefty fine.
In a statement released on the official website on Friday, the UFC said:
UFC lightweight Nate Diaz has received an immediate 90-day suspension and $20,000 fine for violating the UFC’s fighter code of conduct. The language used in his tweet was regrettable, offensive and inconsistent with the values and culture of the organization, and is not tolerated.
The money will be donated to charity.
The tweet that contained the offensive message has since been deleted from Diaz’s Twitter account.
Diaz becomes the third fighter in a matter of weeks to fall victim to the UFC’s code of conduct policy.
UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione faced a fine and a brief suspension after making derogatory remarks about transgender fighter Fallon Fox. While the amount of his fine was never released, UFC President Dana White promised it hit him hard in the wallet.
UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva decided to miss a press obligation recently in the promotion of his July bout against Chris Weidman at UFC 162. The missed meeting cost the Brazilian $50,000 for his failure to appear at the press function.
Diaz now becomes the latest fighter in just a matter of weeks to end up on the wrong side of the UFC, and he’ll now be $20,000 lighter for the effort.
Just for the sake of reference, Diaz earned $15,000 for his last fight at UFC on Fox 7 in a losing effort to Josh Thomson. Prior to that fight, Diaz took home $50,000 for his bout against Benson Henderson in the main event of UFC on Fox 5 last December.
The UFC did not release the name of the charity that would receive the fine paid by Diaz.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report
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