- Jake Paul defeated Nate Diaz by unanimous decision in their long-awaited boxing match on Saturday night.
- Paul challenged Diaz to a $10 million MMA fight in the Professional Fighters League. Diaz accepted the fight, though nothing has officially been agreed upon.
- Diaz has opened as the odds-on favorite to beat Paul in an MMA fight.
Social media star Jake Paul and MMA fighter Nate Diaz finally settled the score in Dallas at the American Airlines Center on August 5. In a lopsided victory, Paul throttled Diaz for a win via unanimous decision.
Following the fight, Paul offered Diaz a chance to redeem himself in an MMA fight. Diaz is a lofty -1200 betting favorite to beat Paul in the PFL bout.
It was obvious from the get-go that the fight was going to be a total mismatch between Paul and Diaz. The size and strength of Paul was too much for Diaz to overcome. Paul, a -425 betting favorite, was able to overwhelm Diaz and throw him off his game from the opening bell.
Perhaps the only surprise of the fight was that Paul couldn’t finish Diaz before it went to the judges. Paul was favored to TKO or KO Diaz at -150, but give credit to the 38-year-old from Stockton, California, for hanging in there and taking the punishment.
Expecting anything differently than Paul dominating Diaz was a reach. Diaz never seemed to take the fight seriously to begin with. He would regularly post bizarre training videos, including smoking while inside the ring preparing for the fight.
Diaz didn’t promote the fight much or ever look like he wanted to win. That being said, he probably knew that there was little chance for a win, and showing up would net a nice payday regardless of his effort.
Nate Diaz brought his showmanship to boxing last night vs Jake Paul 😂 pic.twitter.com/A3wcGGrAQG
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunchPromo) August 6, 2023
Diaz Accepts Paul’s $10 Million MMA Fight Offer
It didn’t take long for Paul to think about his next big paycheck from fighting. Shortly after his win over Diaz, Paul offered Diaz a rematch. Instead of a boxing match, ‘The Problem Child’ is giving Diaz an opportunity to even things up.
Paul has never participated in an MMA fight, but he isn’t shy about mixing it up in a cage versus Diaz. However, the odds in an MMA fight are heavily lopsided in favor of his opponent. Diaz isn’t a boxer, but he knows his way on the mat in an MMA contest.
“All credit to my team and I want to run it back in MMA,” Paul said after the win. $10 million PFL, that’s the offer. Let’s run it back in MMA to make it fair. I won one, now it’s your chance in the home territory of MMA. He’s real tough, that’s what he’s known for but tough in this sport doesn’t work. I knocked him out and won basically every round, I had him hurt in the first round and he kept on coming.”
Diaz was simply trying to avoid getting knocked out. That seemed to be his goal before the fight even began. Certainly, Diaz could have trained and taken the fight much more seriously. In any event, he probably believed putting in the work would have been a waste of time, as the size and strength advantage was too unevenly balanced.
The expectation for Paul was to challenge Conor McGregor to a boxing fight following this bout. However, at least for now, he is not interested in stepping into the ring with McGregor.
Jake Paul on Conor McGregor: “I don’t care about that guy. He needs to go to rehab” 😬 #PaulDiaz pic.twitter.com/B8XTdQ9rBh
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) August 6, 2023
First MMA Fight Since Win At UFC 279
If the fight happens, it will be the first MMA fight for Diaz since beating Tony Ferguson at UFC 279 on September 10, 2022. Diaz put away Ferguson with a guillotine choke in the fourth round. It was the first win for Diaz since beating Anthony Pettis in 2019 at UFC 241.
If Diaz is motivated to fight Paul in an MMA bout, this will not be particularly close. Just like how Paul easily defeated Diaz in boxing, the opposite will be true in a PFL fight. Paul has trained in boxing for over three years now.
Diaz made his pro boxing debut versus Paul. Conversely, Paul will be making his MMA debut if this fight goes through. It will be tough to expect much from Paul in a cage. How long does Diaz want to draw the fight out for? That’s the better question to ask yourself.
Nate Diaz describes Jake Paul as “easy to take down, easy to choke” 👀 #PaulDiaz pic.twitter.com/RtL0vo4FqW
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) August 6, 2023
Paul will have to learn the ins and outs of takedown defense quickly. If Diaz wants to take the fight to the mat, it’s game over. The 26-year-old YouTube star will get outclassed in a hurry.
There is a chance Diaz makes things interesting for a round before getting Paul to tap out. As long as Diaz doesn’t leave himself vulnerable to getting knocked out with a hook, Paul shouldn’t have much of a chance.
The -1200 odds in favor of Diaz make plenty of sense. Unfortunately, it may not result in the most entertaining fight. Diaz would carry an MMA record of 22-13 into the fight, while Paul doesn’t have an MMA bout on his resume.
Nick Diaz Wants To Fight Jake or Logan Paul
Nate’s brother, Nick, is reportedly interested in fighting as well. The 40-year-old called out Jake and Logan, indicating that he is better than both of them. Additionally, Nick admitted that Nate needed a little more work to be competitive against Paul.
“But let’s cut to the chase, I’m a lot better than both of these guys that are out there. I’d love to entertain the idea of moving in on whoever they’ve got for me. So if they want to do Round 2 [against Jake], if [Nate] ain’t going to do it, I’ll take it.”
Translation: my brother just made a lot of money fighting Jake, now it’s my turn to cash in. You can’t blame Nick, who most recently fought in 2021 at UFC 266. He took the loss by KO/TKO in his first fight in six years.
Following 11 straight wins, Nick has lost his previous four fights in the UFC. With Nate planning an MMA fight against Paul, he might need to convince Logan to get back into the boxing ring. Logan holds a professional boxing record of 0-1, while Jake advanced to 7-1 on Saturday.
