3.) He signed his contract:
At the heart of the matter lies the fact that Diaz and his manager Kogan signed the contract they were presented with. They’ve since stated that they didn’t like it then and they don’t like it now, but that’s not really a very good reason to sign a multi-fight deal with a promotion, is it?
Before you get mad and say that the UFC is taking advantage of one of their most talented and well-known fighters by not paying him enough, Diaz’ willingness to sign said deal cannot be understated.
He very well may be underpaid by the UFC, but if you take a look at his recent paydays, you’ll see that Diaz most likely signed an incentive-laden deal that put a seriously lopsided emphasis on winning, which in turn put unnecessary pressure on his drawing power.
For example, Diaz was paid $50,000 for his loss to Henderson, a bout that snapped an impressive three-fight win streak. In his next fight, which was the loss to Thomson, Diaz earned a paltry $15,000, a laughable sum for a fighter of his experience, skill, and notoriety.
That steep drop in pay can only mean that his contract stipulated that he would receive much less if he lost, and he did. Why would he sign such a deal when it was so blatantly obvious that he deserved more (and he did)? His number went up to $30,0000 for his win over Maynard because it was a main event, but Diaz should probably still be making much more than that.
The fact that he’s not is largely due to him signing the contract that he is so disenfranchised with, and he could have avoided both the lengthy layoff and creating a rift between he and the UFC by simply not agreeing to a deal where it seems like he was being taken advantage of.
