| Net Worth | $2,000,000 |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Nathan Donald Diaz |
| Date of Birth/Age | April 16, 1985 34 y.o. |
| Source of wealth | MMA Fighter |
| Height | 6’ |
| Fighting Style | Boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |
| Country of origin | USA |
| State/City of origin | Stockton, California |
| Last Updated | 2019 |
Net Worth
Nate Diaz net worth is $2 million.
He earns his money through UFC salary as well as winnings from fights. Diaz also runs a fight academy with his brother Nick. Diaz has made over $4 million throughout his fighting career.
UFC does not make its fighters’ salaries public, but salaries and fight purses can be estimated.
In 2016, Diaz earned $500,000 from UFC 196 when he beat Conor McGregor. UFC 196 also earned him an additional $100,000 in Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night bonuses.
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Originally, Diaz began his career with a salary of $1,000 in the Ultimate Fighter 5. In 2015 Nate Diaz made $50,000 in a Fight of the Night bonus at UFC on Fox 17.
Throughout 2017 and 2018, Diaz was mostly inactive after his loss to Conor McGregor in a rematch at UFC 202 and turned down several fight offers.
This impacted his earnings, especially after his meteoric rise that culminated in 2016.
Introduction
Who is Nate Diaz?
Nate Diaz is a famous lightweight MMA fighter. He is most known for the highest UFC pay-per-view buy rate in UFC 202, for his fight against UFC superstar Conor McGregor.
Trained in boxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Nate Diaz is a fierce fighter and infamous trash-talker. His upset over McGregor is one of the most famous UFC matches ever.
Early Life
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Nate Diaz was born on April 16th, 1985 in Stockton, California. He is 33 years old. His full name is Nathan Donald Diaz. His family is of English and Mexican descent.
At a young age Diaz trained wrestling with his brother Nick. At the age of 11 he began training in martial arts. Diaz has been active in mixed martial arts since 2004.
He is a 2nd degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Along with jiu-jitsu, he mixes boxing into his fighting style. Diaz is a southpaw.
He is part of the Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu team. Nate Diaz is 6 feet tall, 170 pounds, and has a reach of 76 inches. Cesar Gracie is his jiu-jitsu trainer and Richard Perez is his boxing trainer.
Personal Life
Diaz grew up in a small house in Lodi, just north of Stockton, California with his mother, older brother Nick, and his sister. During childhood, Nate Diaz’s father was not around much.
Nate worked at a kitchen in a restaurant next to the gym where his brother Nick had begun to train. Diaz left high school to pursue a fighting career.
Though he considers it cliche, Diaz does attribute the rough Stockton environment for cultivating his interest and passion for fighting. He says that just walking on the street in Stockton he would pass by fights. Fighting was just ingrained in the community and culture.
Diaz says that it’s this culture that instilled in him his trash-talking habits. He says that’s how people would fight growing up, and he considers those fights to be the same as fighting in the MMA. A fight is always a fight to Diaz.
Nate’s older brother Nick was also an MMA fighter, becoming the Strikeforce Welterweight Champion and the WEC Welterweight Champion at different points in his career.
Growing up, guys would challenge Nick to fight. Nick refused to fight anyone unless they could beat Nate. Most didn’t. Nate routinely put them into submission, or “choked them out.”
— Misty Brown (@Mistyblondie22) November 4, 2015
Nate Diaz has been with his girlfriend Misty Brown, also from his hometown of Stockton, since 2012. On June 6th, 2018, they welcoming a baby girl into their lives.
Career
Nate Diaz began his professional MMA career with jiu-jitsu tournaments and triathlons. Then this moved to cage fighting for the World Extreme Cagefighting, Strikeforce, and Pancrase.
Diaz transitioned to UFC when he joined The Ultimate Fighter 5. Nate would go on to win The Ultimate Fighter 5, catapulting his UFC career. In the finals Diaz had defeated Manvel Gamburyan to claim the title via submission.
In 2012 he earned a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from coach Cesar Gracie. This occurred a month before he would fight Jim Miller, who also holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Diaz took a year off from fighting in 2014, after being the main event at The Ultimate Fighter 18 against Gray Maynard in 2013. He won via technical knockout, which earned him his first, and only, Knockout of the Night bonus.
Due to being inactive throughout 2014, Diaz was removed from UFC’s official lightweight rankings. In a listless match against Rafael Dos Anjos, Diaz lost and had to forfeit
Nate then sat out for almost a year again, but in 2015 returned to fight Michael Johnson at UFC on Fox 17. Diaz won by a unanimous decision. The fight was given Fight of the Night.
Fighting Style
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Nate Diaz is known for his signature hook, nicknamed the “Stockton Slap.” Nick also uses a similar hook. When boxing, Nate is a “pure” fighter, where he forces his opponent to reach for him and then he uses jabs. He fights mostly like a boxer, rather than a conventional southpaw.
Diaz is considered a slow fighter, but he makes his movement count, each step is deliberate. He uses the Slap as a complement to his methodical jabs. The Slap also allows Diaz to make space and time to retreat.
An opponent always has to be worried about this hook when they come in for an attack. If a fighter thinks they have an opening, the Stockton Slap is always in the back of their mind, and it could very well reach the back of their head if they aren’t careful.
Top Interesting Nate Diaz Facts
Nate Diaz Career Highlights
- Nate Diaz’s first fight against Conor McGregor was a twist of fate. Diaz was the replacement fighter, getting into the matchup 11 days before the fight at UFC 196. Because of the short notice, the fight had to occur as a welterweight, as there would be no time to cut weight to make it down to lightweight.
- His biggest achievement to date, Diaz defeated McGregor via submission. Nate Diaz became the only fighter to beat Conor McGregor through submission until Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2018. This submission victory tied Diaz with Royce Gracie for 2nd all-time submission wins.
- A rematch of the McGregor fight would not occur until UFC 202. Originally scheduled for UFC 200, the fight was pushed back after McGregor was pulled from it due to failing media obligations. Diaz lost at UFC 202 by a majority decision.
- After UFC 202, Diaz took two years off, refusing to be booked for any other fights. On August 3rd, 2018, it was announced Diaz would make his return to the ring on November 3rd against Dustin Poirier as the co-headline fight of UFC 230. Poirier pulled out of the fight due to an injury on October 9th.
- Throughout his UFC career, notable victories for Nate Diaz include defeating McGregor, Donald Cerrone, Michael Johnson, Gray Maynard, and Takanori Gomi.
- Nate Diaz has claimed the most Fight of the Night bonuses in UFC history, and is tied for 2nd in most post-fight bonuses in UFC history. Wrestling Observer named his feud with Conor McGregor Feud of the Year in 2016.
Best Quotes from Nate Diaz
“I don’t ask my mom to watch fights — or my girlfriend, my friends, nobody. If anybody wants to watch, they can watch, but don’t get offended when I get ugly. This is not an attractive sport.”
“I’m all the way in this fight game. I’m not one foot in, one foot out. I’m not here to impress people. I’m here to get mine, get ahead and do what I’ve got to do.”
“This is the blueprint. Fighters need to start imagining themselves as the product, because we’re the product of this business. I ain’t free. I don’t know why everybody is acting like they are.”
“Of course, the feeling of winning a fight, succeeding at your objective and your goals, it’s exciting when it’s done and over with. But who the hell wants to jump up, hop inside a cage in front of the whole world and maybe get knocked out?”
“I’m not surprised.” – Said after his victory over Conor McGregor at UFC 196.
