The potential fight between Tyron Woodley and Nate Diaz came and went nearly as fast as the UFC welterweight champ punches. The deal was halfway done until the talk stalled, which prompted Woodley to put Diaz on blast every chance he got. With the Cris Cyborg and Holly Holm fight announced, that looked to be the final nail in the coffin. We’ve since learned that the UFC is still not happy with how UFC 219 is turning out, so it looks like negotiations are still on-going. Tyron Woodley has come up with an idea of how to get Diaz into the Octagon with a compromise that rests in-between his large $15 million demands to fight.
Give @NateDiaz209 5, give me 5 and winner gets another 5. Deal done! @danawhite @ufc https://t.co/sGCemc67g5
— Tyron T-Wood Woodley (@TWooodley) November 23, 2017
It’s not $15 million, but it’s close. $5 million to show, $5 million to win. It would also be the biggest payout any UFC fighter has ever received. Conor McGregor broke the record by earning $3 million to show in his last fight with Nate Diaz at UFC 202. The Diaz brother also netted $2 million, setting the precedent for his astronomical rate he has requested since then. This will be a test to see if fighters other than McGregor can successfully negotiate such a spike in pay. With pressure building to put on a huge year-end show and a lot of the big talent already used up from UFC 217 and UFC 218, leverage is on Woodley and Diaz’s side.
“Guys in our sport bump their gums quite a bit and they get you to think they are these huge tough guys, these gangsters, that they’ll fight anybody, anytime. Then when you get in front of a person like me, then the crickets start to come out and they don’t really want to fight. It happened with [Michael] Bisping, it happened with Georges St-Pierre, it happened with Conor McGregor, it happened with Nick Diaz — big brother — and now it’s happening with baby brother. So, I guess it’s in the bloodline. I just told you. It’s 50-percent done. All you gotta’ say is yes. Put the ink to the paper and we’re done. Get off the pot. Quit crappin’ yourself. You done took plenty of butt whoopins’ before. This ain’t going to be anything different. Get your big paycheck and drift off into the fog.” — Tyron Woodley speaking on The Hollywood Beatdown.
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 11/23/2017.