"He gets a cut of everything" - Anthony Smith believes Nate Diaz is launching promotion Real Fight, Inc. for Jake Paul fight, not actually turning promoter

Nate Diaz is widely expected to exit the UFC after his main event fight at UFC 279 against Khamzat Chimaev.

He recently launched his own combat sports promotion Real Fight Inc., leading many to believe he is formally becoming a fight promoter. UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith weighed in on the topic on his podcast with Michael Bisping, Believe You Me:

"I think it's the perfect opportunity for him to slide out of the UFC and promote his own fights. With a guy like Jake Paul. And then he gets a cut of everything instead of having to get paid a purse. I think he's promoting himself. Which is fine, I'm not hating on it."

Smith stated that the promotion will revolve around Diaz's future endeavors and potentially his next fight outside of the UFC against YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul. He also made a note of how a promotion might help Diaz retain much of the revenue from a fight instead of a fixed purse.

Smith went on to credit the Diaz brothers for their magnanimity:

"And I don't doubt that he'll throw some shows, put his own guys on there, from his gym. Nate's always been the kind of guy that wants to bring up the people close to him. The Diaz brothers have always done a great job of bringing along their training partners and really trying to feed everybody. I think he needs to get credit for that for sure."

Catch Smith's full comments here:

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Nate Diaz expresses displeasure at the Khamzat Chimaev fight

The matchup between a surging welterweight contender and a veteran icon has been deemed by many to be disrespectful towards the exiting Nate Diaz. The UFC was criticized by fans for arguably not doing Diaz's farewell fight justice.

The ploy behind the fight was explained by many as a way to promote 'Borz' and increase his popularity with one of the most popular fighters of the last decade in Nate Diaz.

Diaz expressed his true feelings about the fight in an interview with ESPN MMA ahead of UFC 279. He said to Brett Okamoto:

"I'm the champion of the whole UFC altogether, and I don't give a f**k. What they got me doing right now is they're acting like I called for this fight, which I didn't call for, and I don't want, and I didn't want, and still don't want, but I don't give a f**k. I'll fight anybody."

Diaz finally broke his silence on the fight and clarified that it was not up to him to fight Khamzat Chimaev. However, in the same breath, he also cited indifference at whoever his opponent was and promised to put on a show against the 'next best killer in town' Chimaev.

Check out Nate Diaz's full interview with ESPN MMA: