Nick Diaz Admits He Doesn’t Pay Taxes After UFC 158 Loss
After losing what may be his last fight in the UFC, Nick Diaz admitted that he has never paid taxes.
The confession came during a discussion of how poorly he planned for UFC 158. Diaz was asked if he would consider changing fight camps.
“I can’t be jumping teams. I just have to invest a little bit more, now that I have a little bit more money,” the 12-year MMA veteran said. “You know what? I’ve never paid taxes in my life. I’m probably going to go to jail.”
The 29-year-old added, “Nobody wants to hear about that, nobody wants to hear that kind of talk or what’s really going on with me. I might as well as be a kid. I’ve had fight after fight after fight after fight. You don’t know what that does to somebody that didn’t graduate high school? You don’t understand.”
Diaz has been fighting in the UFC on and off since 2003 — he’s fought in Strikeforce, Dream, and Pride, among other fight organizations since then — although he has been fighting in MMA since 2001.
UFC president Dana White said after UFC 158, “Nick Diaz has been in the game a long time. If you saw his pay check tonight, you wouldn’t feel too sad for him.”
While Diaz’s payout for UFC 158 hasn’t been revealed, he received $200,000 for his last fight against Carlos Condit at UFC 143. For his UFC 137 fight against B.J. Penn, Diaz earned $275,000, which included a $75,000 Fight of the Night bonus. That amount has since been lowered to $50,000. Diaz has earned $768,500 over the course of his UFC career.
White added, “At the end of the day, Nick has been in the sport forever. He wanted a shot at the title, he got a shot at the title and he got paid a lot of money for it. What’s sad is he better go pay those taxes, a soon as he gets that check.”
Dana White said he was considering speaking to Diaz’s lawyer to see if he could help.
After losing to Georges St-Pierre by unanimous decision, Nick Diaz all but confirmed that he was planning to leave the UFC.
“I’m trying to retire, I’m trying to get out of this gig…. I’ve had more than 30-something fights,” Diaz said. “I’ve done everything I’ve set out to do — I’ve fought everybody who started when I did, my era, my generation.”
Are you surprised that Nick Diaz hasn’t paid his taxes after earning nearly $1 million from the UFC?
