There was a lot of action this past weekend in the world of combat sports with UFC Nasvhille going down in “The Volunteer State” and Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz taking place in Dallas, Texas. In the main event of the UFC Nashville, Cory Sandhagen defeated Rob Font (recap) while Tatiana Suarez choked out Jessica Andrade in the co-main event (highlights).
Over in the boxing arena, Amanda Serrano picked up her second win over Heather Hardy after dominating “The Heat” in their championship rematch (video here). But the fight that stole the show was the Paul vs. Diaz main event.
Diaz was making his pro boxing debut after finally getting the UFC shackles off him, taking on a social media influencer who was slowly turning into a legitimate boxer while also making business waves in all aspects of the combat sports world.
After a slow start, Diaz started to find his groove and began scoring some points against Paul, the more accomplished boxer of the two. Despite landing some decent shots and winning a round or two, the fight belonged to Paul from the onset, who floored the Stockton slugger halfway through the fight.
But the contest also showed why Diaz is so beloved by his fan base. He takes a licking and keeps on ticking and believe it or not, he’s a showman inside the ring. Their pay-per-view (PPV) showcase also revealed something more important: Diaz isn’t that great of a boxer.
As tough as it is to hear for some of you, it’s the truth.
His style was unorthodox, he lacks power, he leaves himself open for big shots and — as durable as he is — makes little effort to preserve his long-term health. Despite all that, his toughness allowed him to weather the storm and make it all 10 rounds. While he didn’t get the win, Diaz once again raised his stock after the fight.
Now that Diaz is no longer under contract with UFC, he has the freedom to do what he chooses with his career. He currently has a $10 million offer on the table to run it back against Paul in a MMA cage, a potential fight that heavily favors Diaz.
But something tells me that won’t be happening anytime soon.
Diaz, 38, can always look for another boxing payday, but who can he face that will draw the same attention as he did with Paul? The Stockton slugger did proclaim that he would return to the Octagon once he settled his business with “The Problem Child,” but if he does, the promotion will likely want to lock him down with another “dirty” contract, which means no more boxing fights and definitely no PFL scrap against Paul.
For complete Paul vs. Diaz results, coverage and highlights click HERE.