'Big draw' Nick Diaz wants $3-$5 for each UFC PPV buy because he puts on shows

Following his UFC 158 loss to Georges St-Pierre, Nick Diaz announced his retirement from mixed martial arts (MMA) competition. It was his second straight unanimous decision loss in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) Octagon.

Diaz is notorious for not handling losses well and on the Fuel TV post-fight show, he stated that he had no interest in fighting again unless it was a rematch with St-Pierre. UFC President Dana White quickly shot down the idea of an immediate rematch and that was the last time we heard from Diaz.

Diaz's head coach Cesar Gracie spoke with Fight Hub TV and stated that he didn't believe it was a permanent retirement. It was more of a temporary hiatus from MMA. Gracie went on to say that Diaz also had an offer from the UFC. However, White stated that he hadn't spoken to Diaz in months and no such offer was made.

Lately, Diaz has been pretty active when discussing a possible return to the Octagon. Michael Bisping challenged to the former-Strikeforce Welterweight champion to move up to middleweight. It's a big fight that Diaz has been clamoring for.

Diaz spoke with Fighters Only about what's currently keeping him from fighting. And it's not a lack of motivation. It's actually money. Or more specifically, "Anderson Silva" money.

Well we could negotiate. I am a pretty big draw. So we would have to negotiate a pretty decent amount of pay and a pretty decent amount from the pay-per-view. I'm talking like three to five dollars [per PPV unit sold] the same as these other important fighters are getting, because I am out there putting on a show.

Those big contracts with pay-per-view (PPV) points are usually reserved for fighters with a proven track record at the box office. While Diaz has a very large fan base, he's never built up a resume of selling fights on PPV. And if he wants to be in the same league as the big earners like St-Pierre or Silva, he's got to act like it.

While it's great to know that Diaz is considering a return, I'm not optimistic. His desires are just not realistic and I really doubt he gets the contract he's looking to sign.

What say you Maniacs? Does Diaz deserve that big-money deal or is he still smoking too much of the kind? Sound off!