An acquaintance of mine is a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. I’ve known him for many years; he’s smart, driven, and is definitely not the individual who I’m writing about. He’s smart enough to know that he has to pay his taxes. Unfortunately, it appears some MMA fighters need a lesson in basic tax law.
Nick Diaz is an MMA fighter; last night he lost go George St-Pierre in a championship bout. In the post-fight news conference, Diaz said the following:
I can’t be jumping teams. I just have to invest a little bit more, now that I have a little bit more money…You know what? I’ve never paid taxes in my life. I’m probably going to go to jail.
I’m certain that someone at the IRS will be checking to see if Diaz has filed tax returns. It appears that Diaz is a resident of Stockton, California; the Franchise Tax Board will also be checking their records. Diaz has fought in Hawaii, Missouri, and New Jersey, too, so three more state tax agencies will likely be looking for money.
The president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Dana White, made remarks that I hope Diaz and/or his agent took to heart:
What’s sad is, he better go pay his taxes…He came out publicly tonight and said he’s never paid taxes in his life? Holy s—. That’s sad. You wanna talk about sad? That’s sad. Somebody better handle that with this check and make sure that kid doesn’t end up with nothing. There’s a guy who’s Nate and Nick’s lawyer and seems like a decent guy looking out for them. I’ll probably give this guy a call and tell him, ‘Nick said he’s never paid taxes in his life, and you probably want to start working on that f—ing Sunday morning, not Monday morning.’
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