Nate Diaz sued for over $1m for firing management team right after negotiating Conor McGregor fight

Nate Diaz is getting sued for over $1m (£0.79m) by the Ballengee Group over claims of theft, breach of contract and fraud among other charges.

According to TMZ, the management firm filed a lawsuit against the popular UFC star and former client on Tuesday (20 June) in Dallas County (Texas) District Court.

Having represented Diaz since 2014, Ballengee negotiated his agreements for various big fights including former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos, Michael Johnson and the first Conor McGregor bout at UFC 196.

However, right after sealing the deal for his rematch with the Irishman at UFC 202, Ballengee claims the Stockton native "unexpectedly" fired them one month before the event in July 2016, and never compensated them with their cut for striking a deal.

UFC 202 was of course, the most successful UFC pay-per-view of all time with 1,650,000 buys with Diaz bagging a $2m (£1.58m) purse from the contest, not including the additional income he would have received from pay-per-view cuts and his fight of the night bonus.

Ballengee attorney Jason H. Friedman claims the management firm is now demanding over $1m in damages before adding: "My clients performed their job, what Nate Diaz asked them to do. They are due for that," he told MMAFighting.

UFC women's bantamweight fighter Leslie Smith is also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit as it is claimed that Diaz convinced her to terminate her agreement with Ballengee to avoid paying them what they were owed.

"They conspired to get Leslie Smith to also fire Ballengee and to not pay Ballengee," Friedman explained. "Awad [attorney], as the mastermind of the conspiracy, he and Nate left, then talked Smith into doing the same thing."

"You've got two fighters who my client successfully negotiated bouts for. I think Diaz's fight was one of the most profitable fights of all time, from what I've been told. To do something like that to the guy who brought you to the show, that's not right."