Arguably the face of the Strikeforce promotion, welterweight champion Nick Diaz was extremely close to not even being part of the company.
Prior to signing with Elite XC in 2007, and subsequently finding his current home in Strikeforce, Diaz was in deep negotiations with Bellator FC, the same promotion that has recently been making serious moves in the industry and has positioned itself as one of the leading mixed martial arts destinations for fighters everywhere.
GracieFighter.com reports that "Stockton's Finest" was ready to ink his name on the dotted line, but a $50,000 signing bonus that was originally promised to him by Bellator fell through after the promotion unexpectedly decided to scrap signing bonuses for fighters all together at the time.
Left with the option of fighting in the first event for an upstart promotion with little financial resources at the time, or exploring other alternatives in regards to his MMA career, Diaz of course chose to take the more lucrative route.
And who's gonna blame him.
The Cesar Gracie trained fighter has made the most of his time with Strikeforce, and the now defunct Elite XC, having only dropped one bout in his time with the promotions and now finds himself as a character in a video game set to be released later this year.
But it's interesting to think what could have been nonetheless.
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