Earlier this month, Nate Diaz defeated Jorge Masvidal in an action-packed boxing match in front of 18,000 spectators at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
While Diaz and Masvidal are primarily known for their UFC star status, their bout was highly entertaining and garnered praise from fans and media, and hinted at a potential late-career bout for both men.
It was essentially a good part of the novelty match.
The bad part? You actually get paid.
On Monday, just eight days after his success in the ring and in the hearts of the crowd, Diaz filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against promotional company Fanmio and its president, Solomon Engel, alleging that they owe Diaz $9 million for appearing in the bout.
Fanmio has not yet responded to a request for comment.
According to the lawsuit, Juanmio agreed that Diaz would receive $10 million for the fight, “paying $1 million up front and the remaining $9 million immediately following the fight.”
According to the complaint, Diaz and his agents repeatedly raised concerns about Fanmio's ability to fulfill the contract but received written and verbal assurances that the remaining $9 million was in a secure, separate account and ready to be transferred.
“If Diaz's representatives had not received the aforementioned assurances from Juanmio and Engel, through their attorneys, Diaz would never have attended the Event,” the lawsuit states.
But according to the lawsuit, Engel then told Diaz's representatives that the event had not been a financial success as expected, particularly on pay-per-view, and that he would not be able to make the payment.
“Fanmio and Engel reneged on their written and oral promises and assurances to pay Diaz $9 million, claiming that the event would result in a loss,” the lawsuit states. “Following the event, Diaz's representatives were inundated with frantic phone calls, and Engel became depressed and subservient, fearing that if he paid Diaz the amount he had promised, the event would result in a larger-than-anticipated loss, and that his wife would divorce him over the financial losses. Engel even went so far as to threaten that he might have to declare bankruptcy in order to avoid paying Diaz what he owed her.
“There is nothing more despicable and despicable in the world of boxing than a boxing promoter who allows the health and safety of fighters to be put at risk at a boxing event, offers the opportunity to make huge profits, and then abandons payments to boxers after the event.”
Masvidal and his team are not parties to the lawsuit and have not commented on it.
Fanmio is a South Florida-based promotions business that, according to its website, has been involved in a number of high-profile events, including a 2021 boxing exhibition match between Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul and an announced 2022 slap fighting card with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
