'Outright fraud': Nate Diaz sues for $9 million after promoter allegedly says he can't pay because his wife might divorce him



Fan favorite UFC star and boxer Nate Diaz is suing a digital company Fanmio and its CEO for allegedly failing to pay the bulk of his fight purse after a recent boxing match.

Diaz defeated fellow MMA star turned boxer Jorge Masvidal late in the evening of July 6, 2024. With several press conferences and more social media promotion than is typical for Diaz, the fighter seemingly put a lot of effort into getting eyes on the fight.

After selling out the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, it may now be clear why Diaz put so much time into promotions.

According to a new lawsuit by Diaz and his legal team, he is still owed $9 million for the fight after Fanmio and CEO Solomon Engel allegedly failed to pay the vast majority of his fight fee.

Journalist Ariel Helwani revealed the lawsuit on his show "The MMA Hour" after being sent the legal filing by Diaz's manager, Zach Rosenfield. Helwani read the introduction of the complaint — filed in the Southern District of Florida — live on the air and said it explained the lawsuit in detail.

"This case involves an outright fraud committed by defendants Fanmio and its president and owner, Solomon Engel, upon famed mixed martial artist and boxer Nathan Diaz," Helwani began.

He added that "Diaz and his representatives were skeptical that Fanmio and its representatives" had enough money to pay Diaz but were assured "repeatedly" that the company had the "financial resources" to pay him and that the payments would be guaranteed.

$1 million was to be paid up front, with $9 million after the fight, the lawsuit alleged.

"Fanmio and Engel are now reneging," the lawsuit continued, with the company allegedly having made a "flurry of desperate calls" to Diaz's representatives to provide excuses as to why it couldn't pay.

Diaz's representatives alleged that Engel said that he was going to lose more money than anticipated from the event if he paid Diaz in full and that his wife may divorce him over further financial losses.

He also allegedly claimed that if he paid Diaz the full amount, he might have to claim bankruptcy.

The Fanmio CEO released a statement that called Diaz's lawsuit "frivolous:"

"Nate Diaz has filed a frivolous lawsuit against Fanmio which claims that fraud and breach of contract were committed by Fanmio, yet neither has taken place. In fact, Diaz has already been paid seven figures in connection with the fight."

Engel continued, alleging that the comments that have been made about him rise to the level of defamation.

"Making salacious and defamatory statements to the media in order to harm my family and I has only strengthened my resolve to ensure that the truth will triumph."

Solomon also said that he looked forward to "resolving this dispute through the appropriate process" and that he was "confident that justice will prevail."

— (@)

Diaz's manager said that the fighter would not be making public comments about the lawsuit.

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'No one was helping me!' Nate Diaz defends UFC President Dana White on fighter pay, brushes off idea of fighter union



UFC legend Nate Diaz defended company president Dana White against criticisms that he doesn't pay fighters enough money.

During an appearance on the "All the Smoke" podcast with former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, the hosts commented on White taking "heat" for "underpaying fighters."

Diaz responded by explaining he had no real concept of money when he first started fighting, living month to month and fight to fight. By the time the then-22-year-old won season five of "The Ultimate Fighter" in 2007 — which came with a "six-figure contract" — Diaz thought he was already rich.

"I said I'm gonna buy that house, I'm gonna by that car," the fighter laughed.

'Diaz got into the UFC earlier in its tenure and built himself on his personality more than his fight ability.'

"I don't think people have the concept of what money is and how much," Diaz said. "I think Dana White gets a f***ing bad rap. I'm not giving him a good one, but bro, he's paying a lot more people a lot more money than f***ing people think. I just don't think people know what's what," Diaz stated.

"How is he as a person?" host Barnes asked.

"I think he's cool," Diaz replied. "I'm not backing up Dana White. ... I want more money, too. Give those motherf***ers some more money, give me some too, if I have to go back there," he continued.

"But he’s paying a lot of people a lot of money, more than the boxing [fighters]. As far as combat sports say, boxing pays the highest-paid fighters ... a lot more than the UFC has. But the UFC, I think, pays a lot more people a lot of money. He pays the whole roster a bunch of f***ing s***. People when they make this s*** happen, though, they should demand their s*** and get their own s***."

Former UFC fighter and current BTC champion T.J. Laramie said that Diaz was able to capitalize on a unique opportunity due to how early in the UFC's existence he became popular.

"Diaz got into the UFC earlier in its tenure and built himself on his personality more than his fight ability. Most people don't get that same opportunity even if they have better fighting skills."

"Not to mention the problem with fighter pay lies within the outliers like Diaz," Laramie added. "What he doesn't understand is that he could actually be getting paid even more if he buckled down and agreed to a fighters' union."

"Take Demetrious Johnson, for example, he had a way better career than Nate Diaz but made probably 1/4th of what Diaz did in his career," Laramie explained.

Johnson was one of the most popular fighters in the MMA community and was widely considered to be an all-time great, but seemingly due to low pay-per-view numbers and fighting at 135 pounds, he was seen as underpaid.

Diaz commented on the idea of the fighters' union and said, "I was talking all that 'f*** you' to the UFC and no one was helping me!"

"If you train hard enough, you'll figure that s*** out," he concluded.

The MMA and boxing star attributed most of his success throughout the interview to training hard and staying focused on his discipline.

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'I will be juiced up': Chael Sonnen says he will break every rule if 'stupid' Jorge Masvidal wants to fight him

'I will be juiced up': Chael Sonnen says he will break every rule if 'stupid' Jorge Masvidal wants to fight him



Former UFC fighter and All-American wrestler Chael Sonnen went on a tirade about the sheer "stupidity" of an offer Jorge Masvidal made to him for a fight proposal.

Talking to host Ariel Helwani on "The MMA Hour," Sonnen was asked to comment on the upcoming boxing match between UFC legends Masvidal and Nate Diaz.

From the onset, Sonnen jokingly confessed that he supports "anything that Nate does" and at the same time hates "anything that Jorge does."

Sonnen remarked that he thought the event had been doomed from the start due to its poor timing and poor promotion.

"I remember thinking 'this thing is going to fall on its face,'" he told Helwani.

However, he admitted that the first press conference changed his mind when he saw it was packed and most certainly didn't "fall on its face."

Sonnen then revealed that he was contacted about being a backup fighter for the boxing match should one of the fighters not be able to show.

"Yeah, and I don’t like that [backup] word, they used a different word because there’s no scenario where I would fight with Nate, and they knew that," Sonnen stated. "It was a different word. But they meant if Nate can't do it, will you take on Masvidal? I said absolutely I will."

"He can use his right hand, he can kick me in the nuts, he can do anything he wants. I will be juiced up, and I will beat Jorge Masvidal anytime."

The now-analyst and commentator also remarked on an offer that Masvidal proposed about a possible fight in the future. Sonnen said that he has been trying to get Masvidal to keep his word about the "stupid" offer.

"You want to know what p***ed me off about that? First off, I never got the credit for it, and second, Masvidal came out and said he would do a contract to pay me my biggest bag and not throw his right hand. Now those are just stupid things to say."

"I told him, 'Put it in the contract,'" he ranted. Sonnen then asked where the "stupidity" ends with offers like this.

"Whatever he keeps on saying, I accept, Jorge. Keep limiting yourself. I’m going to do all those things and more, that's why they call me a cheater."

"I will fight Masvidal right now. He can use his right hand, he can kick me in the nuts, he can do anything he wants. I will be juiced up, and I will beat Jorge Masvidal anytime. But I won't take the fight from Nate, and this is exactly what I told these jabronis, word for word," he reiterated.


Masvidal and Diaz had recently moved their bout from June 1, 2024, to June 6 in order to prevent a head-to-head broadcast with UFC 302.

At the time of this publication, fight promoters Fanmio had yet to update the date on its website. This lends credibility to another remark Sonnen made in the interview, when he said "as soon as you move the date" it's going to fail.

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'LOL': UFC's Nate Diaz sued for allegedly choking out TikTok star in New Orleans — Fighter's rep responds by laughing

'LOL': UFC's Nate Diaz sued for allegedly choking out TikTok star in New Orleans — Fighter's rep responds by laughing



UFC legend Nate Diaz is facing a lawsuit stemming from a 2023 New Orleans incident during which he was accused of injuring a social media influencer by choking him unconscious.

After a boxing event, a scuffle ensued on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, where the incident took place. Diaz was seen on video standing in front of another man before the two engaged. Diaz then rendered the man unconscious with a standing guillotine choke.

The man at the other end of the altercation was reportedly TikTok creator Rodney Petersen, who is known for looking similar to YouTuber and boxer Logan Paul.

Diaz explained his side of the story on the "Full Send Podcast."

"I walked out of this bar and the whole street was fighting I didn't even know who was fighting ... then fake Logan Paul runs up in my face like 'whoa whoa whoa whoa back the f*** up!' And I grabbed him by his hands because this fool's gonna hit me," Diaz recalled.

The fighter added that he feared other people watching the ordeal appeared to be ready to fight him so he "choked his ass."

"I was defending myself," he added.

Diaz was initially charged with second-degree battery, but the case was later dismissed by the district attorney, TMZ reported.

Petersen, an amateur fighter, has filed a lawsuit in Louisiana and is reportedly seeking damages for injuries allegedly sustained during the altercation.

The lawsuit claimed that Diaz, unprovoked, attacked him, choked him unconscious, and caused his head to hit the concrete resulting in injuries. The nature of the injuries reportedly weren't specified.

Former UFC Superstar Nate Diaz catches some dude in a Ninja Choke and puts him to Sleep during a Street Fight last night...\n[\ud83c\udfa5 @PaulLABamba]
— (@)

Diaz's representative, Zach Rosenfield, responded to inquiries about the incident and simply said "LOL," but declined to provide any further comments.

Petersen had originally responded to the incident with a video, showing what appeared to be a head laceration.

"So, I don’t know what the hell I did to Nate Diaz,” Petersen said, with blood seemingly on his neck and head. “But I tell you what, I’m going to knock him the f*** out when I know he’s coming. You caught me off guard, dude. What’d you think I was, Logan [Paul]?”

The man choked out by Nate Diaz last night (Logan Paul lookalike Rodney Petersen) reveals the head injury he suffered as a result\u2026\n\n[\ud83c\udfa5 Rodney Petersen/@Overtflow]
— (@)

Petersen's fighting credentials have him listed as an amateur fighter, with the nickname "Not Logan Paul."

He lost five amateur fights between 2014-2015, four of which were by KO/TKO. He has not fought since September 2015.

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Guerilla street artist TROLLS woke American Airlines with brilliant and hilarious artwork



Leading the charge of major airline companies that have gone woke is American Airlines. Instead of focusing on flying planes safely, the company has been far more preoccupied with all things DEI, including gender inclusivity and affirmative action when it comes to its hiring practices.

Glenn Beck is sick of the leftist posturing — and so is guerilla street artist Sabo.

Last Saturday, fans headed to watch the Nate Diaz/Jake Paul fight were confronted with some of Sabo’s work.

The artist posted several pieces around Victory Park that ridiculed American Airlines’ woke corporate policies.

One poster featured the lines “welcome to the woke American Airlines! My pronouns are he/she/it/lost/baggage” above the image of an androgynous-looking pink-haired person.

When Glenn inquires about the identity of the person in the artwork, Sabo responds with: “I don’t know – I just don’t want whatever that thing is flying my plane.”

Another poster featured an image of a plane tied into a knot alongside the lines “get woke with American Airlines where diversity comes before safety. We have first class, business class, and woke class, where your middle seat can identify as a window seat.”

“So great,” says Glenn, who can’t help but giggle.

Glenn then asks Sabo if his American Airlines collection was inspired “by [the company’s] idea that they’re going to have diversity in the cockpit.”

“Yes, and when I hear something like that,” responds Sabo, “all I can think of is 300 people’s lives in the hands of someone who got hired as a token or a diversity hire.”


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Guerrilla political artist Sabo speaks out after lighting up American Airlines in anti-woke poster campaign



Guerrilla political artist Sabo has taken American Airlines to task over its woke policies and leftist posturing via a series of incendiary posters plastered around Dallas' American Airlines Center.

Fans making their way to the Jake Paul and Nate Diaz boxing match at the arena were confronted Saturday in Victoria Park and elsewhere around the city's downtown with Sabo's signature sardonicism.

One set of posters showed the two fighters with the caption, "Woke air presents," providing "He/Him" pronouns below the fighters' names along with a note that "American Airlines Center's policy is gender inclusive."

Sabo

Another set of American Airlines-targeted posters read, "We have first class, business class, and woke class, where your middle seat can identify as a window seat."

Right outside the arena was a poster depicting a transvestite in a pilot's costume with the caption, "Welcome to woke American Airlines! My pronouns are he/she/it/lost/baggage."

Sabo

Sabo's play on the company's embrace of made-up pronouns is in reference to American Airline's 2019 policy allowing customers to identify as non-binary with corresponding "U" or "X" designations when flying.

To ensure its employees are up to date on the latest in gender ideology and activistic language, USA Today indicated the airline has worked with the Trevor Project, an activist group that claims that "gender is a social construct" and holds fast to the notion that sex-change mutilations and cross-sex hormone therapies can be meaningful remedies for at-risk teens.

In addition to its active promotion of radical gender ideology and partnership with activist outfits like the Human Rights Campaign and the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, American Airlines has thrown around its weight and reputation to see conscientious objectors to the LGBT agenda crushed.

For instance, in 2017, the airline joined 36 other corporations in an amicus brief in the Supreme Court's Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case, endorsing the principle that would see a Christian baker forced to make a "gay wedding cake" in violation of his own conscience.

Sabo told TheBlaze that he has "absolutely no problem" with gay or transgender individuals but rather with the "force feeding of this wokeness and transgenderism," particularly in schools, libraries, and by big corporations like American Airlines.

While long critical of leftist overreach and cultural deregulation, the guerrilla artist stressed that what pushed him over the edge was the involvement and targeting of children by LGBT activists — a phenomenon he regards as especially pernicious and worth condemning in no uncertain terms.

Sabo said it's gotten to the point where "I don't care if you're gay or straight, leave the kids alone."

This is hardly Sabo's first rodeo. He has been lampooning leftists and elites in public exhibitions for years.

In 2017, he posted graphics around Los Angeles of a crying late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel with the caption, "Estrogen Hour."

The same year, he commandeered a billboard to draw attention to accusations that former Democratic Sen. Al Franken's (Minn.) had inappropriately touched women.

In 2019, he altered a "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" movie billboard to include the names and faces of rapists Jeffrey Epstein and Roman Polanski.

The guerrilla artist saw fit to hit the streets once more with his politically-charged graphics not just because he the airline's active advancement of woke ideology couldn't go unanswered, but because the alternative, online memes, just don't have the same impact.

"I can crap out memes all day long," he said. "There's an added bravado and added something to getting it out on the street. ... There is a lot more danger and adrenaline when you put it out on the street versus online."

To ensure success, Sabo went out around 3 a.m. when all the bars were closed and virtually everyone else had gone to bed. In addition to minimizing his chances of an unwanted encounter, this timing allowed for more time for the poster paint to dry.

Still, he claimed he nearly got arrested five times, adding, "How they didn't arrest me is just incredible."

Sabo, who has collaborated with Blaze Media in the past, also plastered a poster downtown Dallas that depicted a plane with a coiled fuselage, like that seen in the promotional material for the 1980 comedy film "Airplane!," with the caption, "If you like old comedies, then you'll love our corporate policies. ... Get woke with American Airlines where diversity comes before safety."

Sabo

In recent years, the airline has set for itself "representation goals," whereby board seats and other key roles at the organization were filled, at least in part, on the basis of applicants' race, sex, and sexual preference.

When pressed on whether identitarian DEI guidelines applied to the hiring of pilots, former CEO Doug Parker answered, "Oh, absolutely, of course," reported the Dallas Express.

Concerning the identity-based hiring scheme, Sabo told TheBlaze, "American Airlines seems to be pulling a woke agenda with their pilots."

"When you want to be gay, that's fine, but when you start making decisions on who you're going to hire based on something as pointless as [sexual preference]," Sabo suggested there's bound to be trouble.

"We kind of want the best pilots regardless of who they sleep with or what plumbing they have," he said.

The airline's current CEO, Robert Isom, has nevertheless committed to "embedding diversity, equity and inclusion" in everything the company does.

Sabo is not the only person vexed by the company's aggressive roll leftward.

Forbes reported that an American Airlines pilot sued the company, Fidelity Investments, and others on June 1 claiming they had violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by offering 401(k) plans that include ESG factors.

Brian Spence's complaint alleged that the defendants "have breached their fiduciary duties in violation of ERISA by investing millions of dollars of American Airlines employees' retirement savings with investment managers and investment funds that pursue leftist political agendas through environmental, social and governance ('ESG') strategies, proxy voting, and shareholder activism—activities which fail to satisfy these fiduciaries' statutory duties to maximize financial benefits in the sole interest of the Plan participants."

When asked who or what he intended to target in his next art campaign, Sabo indicated California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) was a contender, noting, "I truly think that he's going to run for president."

He said the Hollywood script-reader's strike migjt also be the subject of another campaign.

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