Jake Paul easily outpoints gritty, but overmatched Nate Diaz
Jake Paul demonstrated again that he’s good enough to beat a MMA fighter.
The YouTuber-turned-combat sports star, coming off a loss to fellow boxer Tommy Fury, outboxed former UFC star Nate Diaz to win a unanimous decision in a 10-round bout Saturday night at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
The official scores were 98-91, 98-91 and 97-92.
Diaz, making his boxing debut at 38, made up for limited skills with his grit and nasty inside fighting but he didn’t have enough of anything to win rounds.
Paul (7-1, 4 KOs) hurt Diaz in the opening round. The MMA star survived the moment but went down in the fifth round, which was the most dramatic moment of the fight.
Diaz survived again and never stopped trying. And he had some success as Paul began to tire late in the fight.
However, Paul clearly got more done in the final accounting, which is why he had his hand raised.
“He’s tough, he’s real tough,” Paul said afterward. “That’s what he’s known for. But tough in this sport doesn’t work. I knocked him down, won basically every round. I think he won one round.
“But he’s a warrior, I had him hurt in the first round and he kept on coming. No one is taking that much damage. Going 10 rounds in my eighth fight is unheard of. I’ve only been boxing for three years.”
Paul said he likes the idea of a rematch with Diaz — but under MMA rules. Paul signed a deal with the MMA outlet PFL this year.
“I want $10 million, PFL, that’s the offer,” Paul said directly to Diaz. “Let’s run it back in MMA, make it fair. I won one. Now it’s your chance in your home territory. Let’s do it.”
In the co-feature bout, undisputed featherweight champion Amanda Serrano (45-2-1, 30 KOs) defeated Heather Hardy (24-3, 4 KOs) by a near-shutout decision. The scores were 100-90, 100-90 and 99-91.