Jake Paul did what he vowed to do. On the 5th of August, the influencer-turned-boxer defeated his long-standing rival, Nate Diaz, in a boxing match. With each jab that Paul took at the former MMA fighter, he made sure he established an unwavering dominance in the ring. But his opponent was not one to go down that easily.
He was dropped in the 5th round. However, he recovered almost immediately and went through all the ten rounds. While Paul sent tremors through the ring for the entirety of the fight, Diaz made headlines in the final few moments by going for a guillotine choke on Jake. Eventually, in the end, Jake Paul went home victorious through a unanimous decision. Moments after his victory, still riding high, Jake Paul called on Nate Diaz for a fight in the MMA format. But the latter has, for some reason, evaded it. Jake Paul reveals why.
Nate Diaz throws ‘such big requests,’ Ducks MMA-fight against Jake Paul
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On a recent appearance on the Full Send Podcast, ‘Problem Child’ kept it real when talking about his MMA fight with Nate Diaz. Earlier, when the fighter had called on Diaz for a fight, he also put ahead a sweetener of a payout, a staggering $10 million! However, the amount was not successful in enticing ‘The Stockton Slugger.’
Elucidating on why Diaz refused to accept the fight, Paul said, “So I tried to fight Nate, we tried everything. And he was just making such big requests behind the scenes.” When asked if the Californian had ever made that much money in his fights, Paul denied.
He claimed that the last time Diaz made 10 million was when he fought against Conor McGregor. Diaz and McGregor have had two fights in the UFC, in the first Diaz took home the victory through submission. However, McGregor won the second fight through a decision.
Earlier, Diaz had suggested that he would enter the octagon against Jake Paul if the fight would also be co-promoted by his Real Fight Inc. However, Paul thinks the “big requests” that came from Diaz’s team hindered the match from becoming a reality. However, Jake believes that there are reasons behind Diaz evading the fight.
Why won’t a former MMA fame like Diaz fight Paul in an MMA fight?
“It’s too big of a risk for him,” said Paul. He further alluded that it’s not just the $10 million that is on the line for the former UFC champ. But in fact, it is his legacy. Nate Diaz rose to fame as one of the most promising fighters in the UFC. He was with the organization for almost 17 years. And if he loses to Paul in a similar format of his dominion, he will lose face, something that Jake believes he doesn’t want to do. “He’s gonna get made fun of right? And he felt the power. I don’t think he could take me down, so he couldn’t submit me,” added Paul.
Jake Paul thinks it’s a “lose-lose situation” for Diaz. He further argued that his opponent was truly in a pickle. If he fought Jake Paul, he could possibly get another scathing loss. But if he re-signs with the UFC, he’d be locked in for the next five fights. That would take away his autonomy over what he gets to do in the combat realm.
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Reinstating why he thinks Diaz is ducking him, Jake Paul concluded, “Financially it would make more sense for him to fight me. Beat me easily because he’s an MMA this and MMA that. But why doesn’t he do that? Because it’s too much risk, really, truly.”
This year has brought an interesting set of events for Jake Paul. He began by registering his career’s first loss against Tommy Fury in February this year. But redeeming himself in the boxing realm, he rose to victory against Diaz less than six months later.
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Do you think he would get this MMA fight any time this year? Let us know in the comments section below.