Jake Paul upset a lot of MMA and boxing purists over the weekend, defeating (and knocking down) former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. The win over the 47-year-old legend improved Paul’s pro record to 6-0 and set him for a likely bout versus another popular MMA fighter.
It seems pretty clear that Paul’s next opponent will be Nate Diaz. Since earning his release from the UFC, Diaz has talked up a fight with Paul and even started some promotion (causing a fracas at the Paul vs. Silva event).
A fight with Paul might give Diaz the biggest payday of his combat sports career. However, one expert thinks the payday may come with a painful lesson.
On his YouTube channel former UFC champ Michael Bisping dashed Diaz’s chances of getting a win over ‘The Problem Child’.
“While the majority of Nate Diaz’s fights happened at 155, he was a lightweight then he went up to welterweight, 170-pounds, and he went 5-5,” Bisping said (ht MMA Fighting). “The only knockout that he got was against Rory Markham in 2010.
“Listen, with boxing gloves on, I don’t think it will be a good idea for Nate Diaz. Nate Diaz was a tremendous mixed martial artist. He beat some phenomenal people, had a tremendous career. He lost some fights and he won a lot of fights. The jiu-jitsu would be gone, the kicking game is gone, the general craftsmanship and the gameplans and the adversity of attacks, punches, kicks, knees, elbows, strangles, chokeholds, triangles, takedowns, you name it. That’s what Diaz could do. Those are the advantages he’d have over a Jake Paul.”
“If he was to fight Jake Paul and at that weight, 200 pounds or 196 pounds, whatever weight they want to come in at, I don’t think it would go very well for Nate Diaz,” Bisping continued. “However, I will say this, I think they would both make a lot of money.”
Bisping added that he thought there was a chance Diaz eventually returned to the UFC. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the UFC come back and offer Diaz a mega deal to get that third fight with [Conor] McGregor because come on, everyone wants to see that.”
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