Urijah Faber reveals that MMA star Nate Diaz once thought he was rich with just $15,000, planned to buy a house and a car: Here’s how much Diaz has made now

Former American mixed martial artist and actor, Urijah Faber, revealed during the Double Coverage Podcast a hilarious story about Nate Diaz. Faber told the host how Diaz had thought he was rich with his very first $15,000 after winning The Ultimate Fighter.

On the podcast Faber said that his favorite conversation he has had with Diaz was about the latter’s financial comprehension early on in his career, which was “zip, zero”. Faber revealed that Diaz told him that he and his brother had lived with their mom growing up and never had to pay for anything.

He added that when Diaz won The Ultimate Fighter and was handed over a $15,000 cheque by Dana White, he thought he was rich. “He had no idea what $15,000 is…so he said, I’m going to get my mom a house…I’m getting a car.” Diaz went to his friend’s car dealership and selected an expensive car, however he got a reality check from his friend, Faber said. “I went to my brother and went, man we’re dumb,” Faber revealed Diaz told him.

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From $15,000 in his first win to a $10 million net worth

Nate Diaz has become one of the most famous fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), despite never winning a championship. He started his MMA career with the World Extreme Cagefighting. He then began competing under the UFC and has fought there for over 15 years after he won ‘The Ultimate Fighter 5’.

Diaz has 16 UFC post-fight bonus awards, making it the third largest in the competition. He also went on to challenge for the UFC Lightweight Championship in 2012. His fame exploded globally in 2016, when he fought and stunned Conor McGregor at UFC 196. When they fought five months later, it became one of the most watched UFC events.

In 2022, Diaz left the UFC and turned to boxing. He returned to professional MMA in May 2026, nearly four years after leaving UFC and faced Mike Perry. He was reportedly paid $500,000 for Most Valuable Promotions’ inaugural MMA card on Netflix.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Nate Diaz has amassed a net worth of $10 million throughout his fighting career. The majority of his revenue comes from his large fighting contracts. According to Essentially Sports, Diaz was one of the highest paid fighters on the roster. His official career earnings from UFC contracts reportedly lie at over $12 million, the sports outlet reported.

Out of his contracts, his largest pay-day came during his second fight with Conor McGregor in 2016 for UFC 202. He was reportedly paid $2 million for the fight and another $50,000 in bonuses post-fight.

He also received a percentage of the pay-per-view sales for his fights. According to Essentially Sport, his full pay for the McGregor fight totalled to about $13 million once the sales were added.

Along with his fights, he also earns a significant amount of revenue from his out-of-ring ventures. Along with his older brother, Diaz runs the ‘Nick Diaz Academy’ where they offer Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu lessons. He also owns a supplement company called ‘Game Up Nutrition’ and has recently launched a fighting promotion company called ‘Real Fight Inc’.