Jake Paul announces August 5 boxing match with MMA superstar Nate Diaz in his first bout since suffering his only career defeat to Tommy Fury: The former UFC fighter, 37, aims to get back in the ring after ‘conquering’ the YouTuber
- After his first defeat against Tommy Fury, Jack Paul returned to the ring
- Paul will face MMA superstar Nate Diaz in Dallas on August 5 on PPV
- DailyMail.com provides the latest global sports news
After his first defeat in boxing against Tommy Fury, Jack Paul returned to the ring, this time, to face MMA superstar Nate Diaz.
Paul, 26, and Diaz, 37, will face off on Aug. 5 on the DAZN pay-per-view at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
“My last fight didn’t end the way I wanted it to, but the outcome was the best thing that could happen to my professional boxing aspirations,” Paul said in a press release through his promotion, MVP. Now, the world thinks I’m weak, when all I have is more focused than ever. Nate Diaz is considered one of the most evil fighters of all time, but he and his team have been running their mouths for far too long.
Diaz and Paul have been trading insults through the media for 18 months, possibly with an eye toward finally getting right tackle together.
“Besides Canelo, he’s the biggest kicker in boxing,” said Diaz, who is currently an MMA free agent after years of success in the UFC. I’m here to beat that. I’m the king of combat sports and then I’m back to get my UFC belts.
Jake Paul (left) will face MMA superstar Nate Diaz (right) on August 5 in Dallas
Diaz stopped Tony Ferguson with a guillotine choke in the fourth round of the hastily arranged main event of UFC 279 last September.
Diaz (21-13 in MMA) ended his contract in the UFC by finishing off fellow veteran Ferguson (25-9) in a match made just days earlier after Khamzat Chimaev lost weight for his main event bout with Diaz.
Paul received the first defeat of his professional boxing career in Saudi Arabia in February, losing by split decision to Tommy, the younger half-brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
Paul (6-1) knocked Fury down with a short left hand early in the final round of the cruiserweight bout, but Tommy Fury dominated long stretches of the eight-round encounter at Diriyah Arena.
Two judges scored the bout 76-73 in favor of Fury (9-0, 4 KOs), while the third favored Paul, 75-74.
‘I really win in every way in life,’ Paul said at the time. I made it further than I thought I would, and more. This is a humbling experience. I’ll take it on the chin and come back.
Fury is Paul’s number one professional boxer, who built his second lucrative career by taking on mixed martial artists and fellow YouTuber in boxing bouts that generated huge interest on social media despite showing more enthusiasm than skill.
Paul appeared to stun Fury with an accurate left hook early in the fifth round, but also lost a point when the referee punished him, apparently for pressing Fury’s head into a clinch. Then the referee took away a point from Fury in the sixth, apparently due to his excessive clinching.
