Nate Diaz says he didn’t really care for his boxing match against Jake Paul.
Diaz made his boxing debut on August 5, 2023, against Paul in a highly-anticipated bout. It was an intriguing matchup, but in the end, it was Paul who won by a lopsided decision, as he even dropped Diaz.
However, nearly a year after the fight, Nate Diaz says he didn’t take the fight seriously as he says he went on a bender leading up to the bout.
“I went on a four-week bender before the fight,” Diaz said to ESPN MMA. “We trained hard for months on months and we were over it, me and my whole team. So I sat back and started kicking it. I was over training. If it was a scary opponent, you wouldn’t allow yourself to do that. But it was just easy to go to sleep at night fighting that guy. But it was good that it happened like that because now it’s necessary to work out, get disciplined, and go back and whip his ass.”
“I’m the weakest puncher, and you’re the one that wanted to fight 30 pounds over my original weight division?” Diaz added. “You think I was just trying to sit there and just knock you out? Like throw as hard of punches as I can? I was just getting through that fight because I was half way to my potential that day.”
Although Nate Diaz lost the fight, he says he’s already over it and wasn’t impressed by Jake Paul’s skills or power.
“For one, I was injured and I couldn’t even really throw a punch,” Diaz said. “I was f—ed up. And for two, he was the easiest fight I ever had. That was the longest fight at the heaviest weightclass I ever had. Never got tired. Never got hurt. Nothing.
“Even when I got knocked down, I think it was timing because it didn’t hurt, I got up like ‘You good?’ ‘Oh, I’m fine.’ I thought he was pretty weak himself,” Diaz added.
Nate Diaz set to face Jorge Masvidal
Nate Diaz will now have his second boxing match as he’ll take on Jorge Masvidal on Saturday.
It’s an intriguing matchup and serves as the rematch of their UFC fight which Masvidal won by doctor stoppage to win the BMF belt. Heading into the rematch, Diaz says he’s taking it more seriously and says his training camp has been much better.
“A lot better than the last fight, that’s for damn sure!” he exclaimed.
Diaz is +200 underdog against Masvidal in the rematch on July 6.