Nate Diaz being sued by former management group for more than $1 million

The UFC star was accused of theft, breach of contract and fraud, among other charges

Nate Diaz's former management firm, The Ballengee Group, has challenged the UFC star to a different kind of fight. 

The Ballengee Group is suing Diaz in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Dallas County (Texas) District Court for theft, breach of contract and fraud, among other charges. TMZ was first to report the story. 

The Dallas-based sports agency, which Diaz hired in 2014, is seeking more than $1 million from Diaz and claimed he failed to pay for its services related to several of his fights, most notably his pair of big-money bouts against Conor McGregor in 2016 (at UFC 196 in March and UFC 202 in August).

According to the complaint, Diaz "unexpectedly terminated" the Ballengee Group's services in July 2016, one month before he earned a disclosed purse of $2 million in the McGregor rematch. The firm claimed it was also never paid after it "advised and supported" Diaz in his deals for fights against Michael Johnson (2015) and Rafael dos Anjos (2014). 

"The Diaz-McGregor fight was one of the highest-grossing fights of all time, and The Ballengee Group negotiated that deal for Nate," attorney Jason Friedman, who is representing the firm, told ESPN. "He left them at the altar. The Ballengee Group brought him to the show, and he left them at the altar.

"The Ballengee Group made several attempts to work this out and they were completely rebuffed by Diaz and his camp."

Diaz's publicist, Zach Rosenfield, told ESPN, "We have no comment at this time."

According to the lawsuit, Diaz and his older brother Nick, who was also represented by the Ballengee Group, encouraged a third UFC fighter, women's bantamweight Leslie Smith, to hire the firm in 2015. Smith also chose to terminate her deal in 2016. Attorney Sam Awad was also named in the lawsuit as a defendant. 

"They conspired to get Leslie Smith to also fire Ballengee and to not pay Ballengee," Friedman told MMAFighting.com. "Awad, 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."

Diaz (19-11), 32, hasn't fought since his majority decision loss to McGregor last August.