Jake Paul takes on UFC legend Anderson Silva tonight - but Nate Diaz has stoked the fire in a rivalry that could prove the Youtuber's next challenge.
Paul and Brazilian great Silva square-off in an intriguing crossover contest in Arizona on Saturday. 'The Problem Child' makes his long-awaited return to the ring for his first fight in 2022 after knocking out Tyrone Woodley in December last year.
Scheduled fights against Tommy Fury and Hasim Rahman Jr have both since fallen through and Silva, 47, is seen as a good acid test for Paul's ability in his sixth professional bout. And if he does come through against Silva unscathed, another hugely popular MMA fighter in Diaz could prove the next crossover bout for the Youtuber-turned-prizefighter.
Diaz will be ringside in Arizona for the hotly-anticipated main event and has spoken previously about going head-to-head against Paul in the future. And the UFC veteran has added fuel to what has become a burgeoning rivalry after showing Paul the middle finger on the big screen in the fight build-up.
Paul is seen on a promotional video ahead of fight night calling out Diaz, and the 37-year-old simply walked past and directed the middle finger gesture at the screen, while being followed by a cameraman.
The result of Paul's bout against Silva could determine whether a fight against Diaz can be made. But Diaz's latest antics prove a future fight is well within the realms of possibility, particularly after the expiration of his contract in the UFC.
Diaz beat Tony Ferguson in his last contracted UFC bout, and has already talked up his interest in swapping the octagon for the ring. He could even call Paul out from his expected ringside seat on Saturday night as he now sets his sights on conquering boxing.
"When I was 17-18 years-old and I was starting to fight I was in boxing with my boxing coach," Diaz told ID Boxing. "There were boxers all over my gym, I was going to box initially but MMA shows were more around my area so I got sucked into MMA and stuck in a cage this whole time with contracts and stuff.
"So now everything is open for the taking and I've never stopped training for a boxing fight since I started fighting, when the right thing comes we're going to take it."
He added: "Jake is for sure one of the options, he's doing big stuff, he's doing really big things and he's got a big fight ahead of him and if he wins that I think people should surely be really impressed by it. And if Anderson does his thing to him that's impressive also so we've got a fight on our hands and I'm looking forward to it. It's 50-50, we'll see what happens."
Paul, meanwhile, is realistic about the difficulties faced in making a possible future bout with Diaz. "We will see I think there is a lot of hurdles that he has to get through," he told ESPN. "Even getting out of his contract probably I don't know all the details but then I also have to get through some hurdles. First of all I will focus on October 29 but I do want that fight."
