Nate Diaz has caught the bug for rematches after beating Jorge Masvidal to score his first professional boxing win on Saturday night.
The California native was able to banish the demons of a 2019 BMF title bout that ended in controversy when doctors deemed him unable to continue due to a cut. He scored a majority decision to outpoint Masvidal in his home state and finally get in the win column as a boxer.
And after the fact he was clear in his initial callouts, demanding that he get another chance to compete with Jake Paul. He is then planning on heading back to the UFC to take on welterweight champion Leon Edwards, whom he lost to in 2021.
Nate Diaz wants rematch with Jake Paul after beating Jorge Masvidal
Last summer, Nate Diaz made the move into boxing for a long-awaited grudge fight with YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul. The former lightweight title challenger moved up to 185lb for the bout and was dropped and outboxed over ten rounds on route to a one-sided Unanimous Decision.
But after a Majority Decision win over Jorge Masvidal on Saturday night, he took to the microphone to make his intentions clear. “I’m going to beat Jake Paul’s f***ing a**,” Diaz said in an explosive post-fight interview.
“And I’m down to fight the highest ranked boxer I can find, I don’t know who the f*** he is. My main objective has always been to be the best fighter in the world so I’m going to go back to get a UFC title. Leon Edwards, Jake Paul, anybody else, you’re dead.”
BJ Penn backs Nate Diaz to beat Jake Paul in rematch
There were a number of MMA legends in attendance at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on Saturday night. Gilbert Melendez, a long-time teammate of Diaz, was one as well as UFC Hall of Famer and two-weight world champion BJ Penn.
Asked by Title Sports Network how he felt about Diaz’s performance after the fact, Penn replied: “Great, great performance. I think he looked great out there.”
And quizzed on a rematch with Paul, he added that “I hope so, Nate did good, they sold this place out, it’s got to happen again and he should beat him the next one.”
In the same video, Melendez was asked for his thoughts on the performance and added: “I thought Nate did fantastic, high volume, always in your face, can’t be stopped, I love it. What did he say? Jake Paul? I love it, what else did he say? I love it all.”
Jake Paul unimpressed by Nate Diaz callout after Jorge Masvidal fight
Unfortunately for Diaz, he may have a bit of work to do in convincing Paul to fight him again. The social media star immediately took to X and Instagram stories to give his response to the callout, noting that his rival had turned down a reported $15million offer to rematch in the PFL.
Paul imitated Diaz’s infamously slurred speech, before feeling for a pulse and joking that “the heart’s still beating”. He captioned the Instagram post with “Bro ducked my $15m MMA offer,” before sharing a photo from their boxing bout alongside a message saying “hit so hard he forgot he got dog walked.”
On his X upload of the same video he expanded slightly, adding: “F*** you Nate Diaz you’re a h** who ducked my PFL $15m MMA offer.” He then added: “Masvidal trash too smh,” with a crying laughing emoji.
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