Mixed martial arts fighter fined $20,000 and suspended for three months for anti-gay slur
A mixed martial arts fighter in the Ultimate Fighting Championship has been fined $20,000, and suspended for three months, for tweeting the word “fag”.
Nate Diaz tweeted defending a fellow fighter who lost his bonus as a fine for smoking marijuana, in which he included the word “fag”.
Following the return of the UFC’s President Dana White, it was announced that Diaz would be fined $20,000 (£13,000) and would be suspended for three months.
The three month suspension will not affect Diaz’s next scheduled fight, however it will prevent him from being booked for paid appearances by the UFC.
Diaz tweeted the comment about Pat Healy, who was fined $130,000 (£85,600), saying that “the guy who took the money is the biggest Fag in the world..”
Reports suggest that the “guy who took the money”, was another fighter who was awarded a bonus.
The UFC’s policy states that bonus money is not paid until drug tests come back, and that failure means the bonus is forfeited.
The UFC’s parent company Zuffa, released a statement saying: “The language used in his tweet was regrettable, offensive and inconsistent with the values and culture of the organization, and is not tolerable.”
Zuffa’s statement also went on to say that the money from Diaz’s fine will be donated to charity.
I feel bad for pat Healy that they took a innocent mans money and I think the guy who took the money is the biggest Fag in the world ..
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) May 16, 2013
Mike Kogan, Diaz’s manager had defended the tweet, saying he did not mean it to be homophobic. He said to MMAJunkie: “Guess what? The word faggot, at least in Northern California, and where Nate is from, means bitch,”
“It means you’re a little punk. It has nothing to do with homosexuals at all. So when Nate made the comment that he made, he didn’t make it in reference to homosexuals or calling Caraway a homosexual. He just said it was a bitch move.
Another fighter Fallon Fox, last month was forced to come out as transgender, following the discovery of her 2006 gender reassignment surgery by reporters.
