Jake Paul took a shot at Nate Diaz as he continues pursuing an MMA fight with him.
Paul (9-1) defeated Diaz by unanimous decision in a 10-round fight last August, dropping the former UFC star in the fifth round.
“The Problem Child” is currently slated for two boxing matches – against Mike Perry in July then Mike Tyson in November. He continues to tease his MMA debut, which PFL CEO Pete Murray told MMA Junkie will likely happen in 2025.
“Nate Diaz is ducking me in MMA,” Paul said on his on BS w/ Jake Paul podcast. “He’s actually ducking it, which is crazy. We upped to $15 million, but he actually doesn’t want to do it.”
UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley, who was a guest on Paul’s podcast, thinks Diaz would be a problem for Paul if the fight hit the ground.
“I don’t know how much jiu-jitsu you know,” O’Malley chimed in. “Nate’s a f*cking high-level black belt. If you can keep it standing, 100 percent there are winnable ways there. If it went to the ground, I think he might be able to grab your neck.”
However, Paul isn’t worried about Diaz’s strength – in grappling or striking.
“That’s exactly how I feel about it,” Paul said. “If I don’t get guillotined, then I win the fight. But even if he was on top of me, I would just throw him off of me because he’s also the weakest puncher I’ve ever fought. Like, when he was hitting me I almost started laughing.
“I’m not even saying this to talk sh*t. Out of everyone I’ve sparred in my whole entire life and everyone I’ve fought, his punches are the weakest. I’m literally not even talking sh*t, which is why I think it’s funny that he dropped Conor (McGregor) and sh*t because it’s just like, how?”
Diaz will step back into the ring when he boxes Jorge Masvidal on July 6 in a Fanmio pay-per-view headliner at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
