Referring to a fighter’s ability to draw in an audience interested in watching their bouts, the UFC has long made clear that athletes who “move the needle” receive the full support of the promotion, including increased marketing, preferential treatment, and far greater monetary compensation than that of their peers. While the mixed ratings of shows featuring Diaz as a headliner up until that point didn’t necessarily clarify White’s statement either way, the idea of “moving the needle” continued to live on in the MMA lexicon. When UFC president Dana White responded to Diaz’s grievances three months later in July, he stated that the promotion would not release the longtime company veteran and summed up the reasoning behind Diaz’s compensation with a single remark. Diaz went on to state that fighters, in general, were not making as much as they should be based on the UFC’s perceived revenues, and prior to the interview had gone so far as to ask the UFC for his release via Twitter. During the tirade, Stockton’s second favorite son claimed he had never turned down a fight in his then eight years under the promotion’s banner, and that he felt conned into signing an eight-bout contract before challenging Benson Henderson for the UFC lightweight title in December of 2012. Back in April of 2014, Nate Diaz lambasted the UFC over his current contract with the promotion in an interview with MMA Fighting, citing low pay compared to other fighters that he trained with at the time.
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