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UFC President Dana White is aware of Nick Diaz’s demands for $500,000 per fight, and rest assured, he won’t be heading to the negotiation table with the former Strikeforce champion – or his younger brother Nate Diaz – anytime soon
“This is one of those situations that is going to be a sad story in a few years when you look back on it,” White told MMAjunkie. “You’re going to say they were two talented kids that had fans and had interest in fighting and they sat out.
“What people don’t realize when you’re in the moment and your time is now, guys don’t realize until it’s over. You will never make that kind of money again for the rest of your life. You should fight as much as you can possibly fight, get as popular as you can ever get and make as much money as you possibly can.”
There are certainly situations where fighters have the leverage to request renegotiation, but in the case of Nate specifically, White believes he is no position to bargain.
“With the Nate Diaz thing, he was in a position where he fought for the title. Then he fought again to put himself back in title contention and got knocked out in that fight,” White said. “Now he wants a new contract and a title shot and all that. It’s just not how this stuff works.
“You can sit out, you can talk all you want, you can tweet all you want and you can do whatever you want. The bus is going to pass you by and you’re going to be sitting there going, ‘What did I do?’ Or maybe they won’t. They’re the kind of kids that, listen, you came from the mean streets and you guys are street guys and all that cool s–t. I get it. But you gotta play the game a little bit.”
Nick’s contract demands came to light in a recent interview with MMA Fighting when the 30-year-old responded to a statement from White saying he offered a fight against Hector Lombard and never heard back.
When asked if he would express his feelings to either Diaz directly, White said he would like to, but it’s a nearly impossible task.
“Of course I would, but you can’t talk to these guys,” White said. “You can’t pick up the phone and call these guys. I talked to Nick, I offered him the Lombard fight, he said he was interested in it, then gone – he disappears. You can’t contact him again. You can’t get a hold of him.”
While Nick and Nate are arguably two of the most popular fighters in their respective weight classes, White isn’t going to push for either fighter to step in the octagon again.
The UFC’s head honcho has explained his stance on fighters having a short window in the sport to compete, and if the Diaz brothers choose not to capitalize on that window, that’s on them.
“Life goes on without anybody,” White said. “Presidents of countries leave, die, move on, whatever. The world moves on without you, man. This is your time to make money. This is your time to do all these things. If you just let it pass you by, that’s your decision. You’re grown men. I heard all the things: ‘We don’t know how to pay our taxes, we don’t know how to buy houses, we don’t know how to …’ Well, you’re grown men. You better figure it out quick because the bus is going to pass you by.”
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