Nick Diaz reportedly paid $300,000 bonus for fulfilling UFC 143 media obligations

"I just want to get paid."

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight contender Nick Diaz has been heard saying that very same remark in countless interviews, such as this one here.

And apparently, he has been getting that paper.

After his loss to Carlos Condit at UFC 143, Diaz retired from the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA), going as far as saying in his post-fight interview that he gets paid too much. For his efforts against "The Natural Born Killer," the Stockton slugger made a cool $200,000 in defeat.

But that wasn't all he made for his participation in the event.

According to ESPN's Brett Okamoto, Diaz was paid a bonus of $300,000 to assure he would attend all UFC 143 press-conference obligations and was also compensated for the money he lost out on after his fight with UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre was scratched due to Diaz failing to show up to a couple of pre-fight press conferences to promote the much-anticipated bout which surely would have done well in pay-per-view (PPV) numbers.

But why compensate Diaz if the cancellation of the bout was his own doing?

Okamato has the scoop via his official Twitter account, after the jump:

Brett Okamoto ‏@bokamotoESPN
New info regarding the suspension and fine received by Nick Diaz by the NSAC ...

Brett Okamoto ‏@bokamotoESPN
Most likely, Nick will be fined 30 percent of $200k and $65k *bonus* ... the order for that should come down within next two weeks.

Steven Marrocco ‏@MMAjunkieSteven
NSAC hasn't made up their mind. NSAC Chair has 30 days to issue a written order to decide what to take. 30% of 265k is target.

Brett Okamoto ‏@bokamotoESPN
That's what I said. If nothing changes, he'll be fined off $265k. Chances they'll count the full $300k now very slim.

Brett Okamoto ‏@bokamotoESPN
The $65k bonus was not a fight night bonus. It was part of a $300k bonus Diaz received from the UFC for not missing 143 press conferences.

Mike Chiappetta MMA ‏@MikeChiappetta
Just more proof that "crazy" is a good business strategy.

Brett Okamoto ‏@bokamotoESPN
It makes more sense if you consider he was going to make that money anyway, initially from PPV. Still weird though.

Brett Okamoto ‏@bokamotoESPN
This info is per Keith Kizer, executive director of the NSAC.

Brett Okamoto ‏@bokamotoESPN
According to Kizer, he was told Diaz lost PPV incentives after noshowing St. Pierre pc. The $300k bonus made up for those losses at 143.

Brett Okamoto ‏@bokamotoESPN
Dana White declined comment to ESPN regarding the DIaz bonuses. If nothing changes, he will be fined 30% of $265k.

Brett Okamoto ‏@bokamotoESPN
The $300k bonus was supposedly made out for more than just attending press conferences, but that was the main crux acc. to Kizer.

Just when you think anything surrounding Nick Diaz couldn't get any stranger, he goes and reportedly gets paid a good amount of coin to do something that 99.9 % of the UFC's roster has to do as part of their contractual obligations.

But hey, you can't really be mad at Diaz, can you? After all, he played the game his way, and apparently, it's paying off...big time. Is this a bad precedent that has been set by the powers that be over at Zuffa? Or is their more to the story behind the scenes?

We know you Maniacs will have something to say about this, so sound off!