Josh Thomson, former Strikeforce MMA champion and current co-host of the Weighing In podcast, has made claims that Nate Diaz turned down hush money from the UFC to keep his failed drug test under wraps.
Thomson (23-9), who was a past opponent of the proud fighter from Stockton, CA, is claiming that a lump sum was offered to Diaz (21-13) by the UFC to keep quiet, as there was a worry regarding the USADA results jeopardizing his BMF title fight with Jorge Masvidal (35-17).
This subject came about while during a discussion surrounding the news that Mark Hunt had lost his lawsuit with the UFC. Thomson was asked if he believes that the UFC was aware of Lesnar’s performance enhancing drug use prior to his match with Hunt, which was the main reason Hunt filed the lawsuit in the first place. Thomson had this to say in response:
“I look at it this way, this is the thing. Look what they were trying to do with Nate Diaz. He tested positive, and they were like, ‘You know what, we’ll get it all sorted out after.’ And Nate said, ‘F**k you, we’ll get it sorted out now.’ That means that they knew that Nate tested, and they were still going to let him fight… So I would not say that they have not tried to do that, or would not do it.”
“When I’m looking at (Lesnar), I mean, I’m just thinking to myself that this was early in USADA. I don’t know. I don’t want to say that they knew, but I want to say that the history – which I can only give you that case – is that they tried to have Nate still fight, and ‘We’ll deal with it after.’… I know people in Nate’s camp that said they even tried to offer money. They tried to like, ‘We’ll take care of it all afterward, no big deal. It’s probably just a misunderstanding.’”
Full Weighing In Podcast Episode:
While Diaz did wind up testing positive ahead of his match with Masvidal, this was due to tainted supplements that were provided for the fighter, and ultimately the BMF title bout was allowed to proceed. The match resulted in a TKO for Masvidal due to a stoppage by the ringside physician over damaging lacerations around Diaz’s eye.
Got a quick shot of Nate Diaz’s right eye when he briefly uncovered it at the #UFC244 post fight press conference. pic.twitter.com/HES7Wh6ZOq
— John Morgan (@JohnMorgan_MMA) November 3, 2019
Josh Thomson and Nate Diaz met in the Octagon back in 2013 at UFC on Fox 7. Thomson caught Diaz with a well-timed head kick, then followed up with punches, to become the first and only opponent to finish Diaz.
When Nate Diaz got finished by Josh Thomson’s beautiful head kick.😎 pic.twitter.com/1t67xbDhwY
— 𝙨 (@elcuczy) July 29, 2022