Jake Paul‘s battle against MMA fighters, he remains undefeated.
The YouTuber defeated Nate Diaz by unanimous decision (97-92, 98-91, 98-91) Saturday night at a sold-out American Airlines Center. Paul hurt Diaz in the first round and it looked like he was going to cruise or end the fight early. But Diaz held his own and made it a dogfight throughout.
“He’s tough. He’s very tough,” Paul said in his post-fight interview. “That’s what he’s known for. But it’s hard in this game when it doesn’t work. “I knocked him down, I won basically every round, but he’s a fighter. I hurt him in the first half, he kept coming. No one took that much damage.
All respect to my team and ranks. I took 10 rounds in my eighth fight, it’s unbelievable. He’s only been a boxer for three years and he beat a UFC legend.” Paul challenged Diaz to an MMA fight afterward, and Diaz seemed to accept. -promoted by Real Fight Inc. Zach Rosenfield, Rep. Diaz and Real Fight Inc
Jake Paul hurt Nate Diaz in the opening round and also scored a knockdown in Round 5. Kevin Jayaraj/USA Today Sports
Diaz later told ESPN that he injured his hand in training. Diaz’s boxing coach, Richard Perez, said in a post-fight press conference that the injury affected Diaz’s boxing.
Paul, 26, came away with boxing victories over former UFC champions Anderson Silva and Tyrone Woodley (two, including one by knockout), and another knockout over former MMA champion Ben Askren he A pro boxer since 1990. Diaz, 38, was in the making his de first professional boxing. The bout took place at 185 pounds, the heaviest Diaz has fought in his long career.
“If I could do it again, I wouldn’t try to gain weight,” Diaz told ESPN. “Because I think it slowed me down a little bit in camp.”
Diaz spent 17 years in the UFC and was one of the biggest stars in the promotion. He choked Conor McGregor, handing McGregor his first UFC defeat, in 2016. After his win over Tony Ferguson in September, Diaz left the UFC as an independent and left Real Fight Inc. down, and vowed to have the biggest and most exciting fights — on his terms.
This card is from Real Fight Inc. and Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions has a 50-50 partnership. Rosenfield told ESPN last month that both Paul and Diaz will earn well into eight figures, which is more than Diaz has made in any of his UFC fights. It was also undoubtedly the greatest battle for Paul. MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian said Diaz is the first “A” teammate — revealed as a pay-per-view draw — Paul has faced in his career.
Anger flared during the week. Paul and his team got under the skin of Diaz during a press conference, and guards from both teams fought. Both got physical at the weigh-ins. Diaz imagined it as ph
