In recent years, Jake Paul has made a name for himself as a YouTube star turned boxer. He has been in the ring with several opponents with an MMA background, all of whom he defeated. They are Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley, and Anderson Silva.
In February of this year, Paul suffered his first loss in the ring to Tommy Fury in Saudi Arabia. Despite this setback, Paul is set to face off against Nate Diaz on August 5 in Texas.
When questioned about Paul’s forthcoming match with Nate Diaz, UFC president Dana White did not hesitate to take a jab. He was quick to mock Paul’s upcoming bout with Diaz and his loss to Fury.
In an interview on The Jim Rome Show, White took a dig at Paul by saying: “I’ve been trying not to [criticise it]. I like Nate. Nate and I have a good relationship.”
White went on to criticize the upcoming bout with Diaz, stating that Diaz is a 40-year-old MMA combatant who is smaller than Paul and not his weight.
“Listen, Jake Paul went out and fought a real boxer who was his age, his weight, and he lost. So as soon as he loses, he goes back to a 40-year-old MMA fighter who’s smaller than him [and] not his weight. Listen, it’s just one of those fights. I know that some people are into this. It’s just not what I’m into. It’s not my thing.”
Last year, Nate Diaz walked out on the organization when his contract with UFC expired. Despite having no professional boxing experience, Diaz is set to make his boxing debut against Paul in August.
Diaz is actually 38 years old and will be Paul’s fourth opponent with an MMA background. Before Diaz unexpectedly agreed to take on Paul, a rematch between Jake Paul and Tommy Fury was anticipated to take place.
However, Jake Paul maintained that the celebrity boxing rivals will face off once again very soon.
Paul told Sky Sports: “It’s going to happen, it’s going to happen for sure. I think it was a great fight, it was entertaining, it was the biggest pay-per-view buys in boxing for the last two years so I think we have to run it back.”
“Tommy is down and I’m excited for that.”