07 September 2023 , 12:31
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Jake Paul believes Nate Diaz doesn't want to put his legacy on the line in an MMA fight reversal of the pair's boxing match from last month.
The social media star comfortably won a 10-round decision, dropping Diaz in the fifth on route to picking up almost every round in front of a packed American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. And he was keen to run the bout back inside the PFL Smart Cage, where he has committed to make his debut next year.
However, it appears that Diaz has turned down a $10million offer for the pair to compete in a massive pay-per-view event, after their boxing show was reported to have done around half-a-million buys internationally. And Paul feels that it is due to fears that despite a massive experience gap, that he might lose and hurt his standing in his own sport.
“We’re at the drawing board right now," Paul told TMZ Sports about his next fight. "Nate Diaz ducked the $10m offer, so he’s not the bada** that everyone said he was. I wanted to fight him in MMA and do something that no boxer has really ever done, which is, in the prime of their career, go over to MMA.
"MMA fighters have gone over to boxing, but I want to go over to MMA and Nate Diaz ducked the offer. So we're at the drawing board - he accepted in the ring and then behind the scenes we tried to make it happen and push forward with it but to no avail, so I don't know.
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"With those guys I don't even know if they have reason, I don't even know if they think. There wasn't like a transparent reason, I think it was just something where he realised there's a lot of risk for him. I just dog walked him in the boxing ring, made it look easy and if I beat him in MMA I take his legendary status.
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"I don't know if maybe he was like 'maybe the risk of this isn't good enough for the $10m, he's coming fresh off a big bag with this fight that we just had. He's sitting on a bunch of money right now and he's like 'uh, I'm good.'"
Paul is currently exploring the possibility of scaling back his events in order to allow him to pursue a more traditional boxing route. He is known for headlining major PPV events, but would have to lower box office expectations if he fought unknown journeymen while moving through the ranks as a legitimate professional.
But he also has major fights on the horizon with both Tommy Fury and KSI, regardless of the result in their October 14 bout at the AO Arena in Manchester. The younger Paul brother has a five-year rivalry built with KSI that sells no matter how many fights they win or lose, and could also push for a rematch with Fury whom he took to a split decision earlier this year.