Nate Diaz will have to fight in the UFC for one final time before he can consider facing Jake Paul.
Diaz has just one fight remaining on his current deal with the UFC and has yet to identify an opponent despite a lengthy search. The 37-year-old has begged to be released from his contract on multiple occasions.
In his most recent call to be released, Diaz teased a boxing fight with Paul by posting an image of his rival's knockout of Tyron Woodley, with the caption: "UFC release [me] now please or give me fight with anyone in July or August I have bigger s*** to do."
However White has admitted he is uninterested if Diaz wants to pursue a meeting with Paul following the conclusion of his tenure in the UFC. "Who knows? He's got one more fight with us and then he can do whatever he wants to do," White told The Jim Rome Show when assessing Diaz's future and a potential bout with Paul. "I have no idea. I could care less, to be honest with you. But like I said, at this point in his career I get it. I totally get it."
The UFC kingpin has feuded with Paul on multiple occasions and is understandably not keen on allowing his talent to step into the ring with the YouTube star. However with Diaz's time in the UFC coming to an end, he may be left with no option providing a final fight is agreed in the octagon.
Diaz previously verbally agreed to a meeting with Dustin Poirier which later collapsed, before a series of leaked UFC fights appeared to show his next opponent was Khamzat Chimaev. However these options have since failed to materialise and Diaz has continued to voice his frustration over a lack of final challenge.
Who would win if the pair fought in the boxing ring - Nate Diaz or Jake Paul? Let us know in the comments section below
Despite claiming he had little interest in a fight between Diaz and Paul, White claimed that it is now the best choice with a lack of UFC opponents. "I like Nate, but let’s be honest, Nate’s won one fight in the last five or six years," White told TheMacLife. "When these guys get into these positions, you’ve got guys that have been with us for a long time, that we respect, that we care about.
"You’ve got [Donald] Cerrone or Anthony Pettis before he left, and you’ve got Nate Diaz. And Nick Diaz [Nate's brother] is still under contract with us, so you want to be fair to everybody, you want to do the right things or whatever. Nate’s won one fight in five years, so we’re trying to figure this thing out with him. He probably should go on and fight Jake Paul. That’s a fight that makes sense."
