Jake Paul Praises Dallas While Taunting Nate Diaz in Faceoff at AAC

Boxing superstar Jake “The Problem Child” Paul and former UFC superstar Nate Diaz came face-to-face in an entertaining media-only press conference inside American Airlines Center on Tuesday afternoon to formally announce their highly anticipated boxing match on Aug. 5.

Paul, 26, and Diaz, 38, are known for their controversial antics to promote a fight. The hourlong press conference lived up to the hype, with the two superstars exchanging odd promotional stunts, which included Paul facing off with toy money to taunt an absent Diaz, who briefly left the podium to use the restroom; a planted interviewer explicitly requesting a fight with Nate’s brother and fellow UFC fighter Nick Diaz; and Paul and Diaz engaging in a light slap boxing match instead of taking a normal face-to-face stance.

In a fight two years in the making, Paul, with a record of 6–1, hopes to bounce back from his first loss, to boxer Tommy Fury last February in Saudi Arabia. Before losing a split decision to Fury, Paul was on an undefeated streak that included knockout wins over his previous five opponents. While a rematch with Fury looms, Paul is sticking to the original plan against Diaz, who will make his boxing debut after a decorated 15 years in the UFC, where he racked up a record of 22-13-0.

“Nate Diaz was always the plan after Tommy,” Paul said when asked about fighting Diaz instead of a Fury rematch. “That was what I said. Even in the build-up to Tommy, I was like it's Nate Diaz after Tommy Fury. So that was always the plan. … This is a big fight. This is a fight that I've wanted for a long time. [Nate] got out of his UFC contract, and this is probably the biggest fight of the year, only topping me versus Tommy.”

Paul and Diaz will fight eight rounds in a contest promoted by Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) and Real Fight Inc. at a catchweight of 185 pounds with 10-ounce boxing gloves. The fight will be a co-main event, including a women’s undisputed title rematch as boxing star Amanda Serrano (44-2-1) defends her featherweight title against division rival Heather Hardy (24-2-1). The August fight card marks Paul and Serrano’s second co-main event since Serrano signed with Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions in 2021.

A major advocate for women’s boxing, Paul has promised to involve himself in the biggest spectacles in boxing history.

“I want to make big events, big fights happen and strike while the iron's hot,” Paul said. “He was a free agent. Let's run it. Make it happen. Settle the shit talk. I'm ready for war. I'm excited to be here. Thank you for having me out, Dallas. I love y'all and I'm going to do what Conor McGregor couldn't do, and I'm gonna knock this man out.”

Diaz delivered McGregor his first UFC loss, by submission, in March 2016; in August that year, McGregor came back to defeat Diaz by majority decision.

Choosing Dallas as the location for Paul’s next fight was a full-circle moment for the Cleveland native as the area gifted him with one of his fondest memories when he was a popular YouTuber 10 years ago.

“I love Texas, always loved Texas,” Paul said. “This [Dallas] is where I did my first fan meet-up ever when I was 16 years old. So it’s awesome to bring it back here and to really put on a show cause Texas obviously has crazy fight fans. Excited to put on a massive event. The pre-signups obviously show there’s a huge interest in this event.”

At the beginning of the fashionably late press conference hosted by combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani, a one-and-a-half-minute promotional trailer premiered, documenting the chaotic timeline of Paul and Diaz’s inevitable fight. “Two years ago, [if] you would have told me this is a real thing, I would have laughed in your face,” said Helwani as he introduced the two stars.

Helwani was not the only skeptic in the American Airlines Center. The media bombed Paul and Diaz with questions about the massive fight. Paul credits its coming about to his hard work as one of the boxing’s most famous boxers and promoters.

“I predicted the future, but it is surreal,” Paul said. “I had to put in the work to get here. And I'm just excited to be here putting on massive events. This is just the start of what I'm going to accomplish. Everything else I've said still holds true as well. And this is proof of that.”

For Diaz, setting up a fight with his longtime rival required fulfilling his contractual obligations with the UFC, which he completed in September 2022 with a victory via submission in the fourth round against Tony Ferguson at UFC 279. During the press conference, Diaz said he watched Paul ascend to the top of boxing and patiently waited for the appropriate opportunity to issue a challenge after he completed his UFC contract.

“My plan in fighting is to always fight the biggest name and the best fighters there are,” Diaz said. “I’ve been trying to get out of the UFC for a long time ’cause I knew what I was worth, what fighters are worth, and what I should do. That was a long road. When I was on the way out, he was doing the biggest and best things ... for fighting and in fighting, and I was glad I had a worthy opponent to make an attack on when I got out.”

While Diaz will be making his pro boxing debut against Paul and his devastating overhand right, he has a resume that includes decades of boxing experience and regularly sparring with retired fighter Andre Ward (32-0), a 2004 Olympic Gold medalist and multi-division world champion. Diaz proclaimed himself the “best fighter ever” at the press conference as he referred to spending his entire UFC career competing against the best fighters in the world.

“I'm the best fighter … ever,” said Diaz when questioned about his fighting record. “Everybody agrees with that.”

When Paul reminded Diaz of his 13 losses, Diaz responded: But who did I fight? Top 10. I've been fighting top 10 guys the whole time. I probably fought five guys in my whole career that weren't top 10 when I wasn't top 10 either. What happened with Conor McGregor? How many rounds did I fight him? I fucking knocked his ass out in seven minutes. He got choked, because he was not trying to get hit no more, and he was smart and took the way out. That's the way to get out here. Take it the way he had to. Isn’t that the goal of the sport? Seven minutes.”

As Diaz reviewed his fight history, Paul spent the remainder of the press conference annoying him by reciting statistical flaws in his fight history. Paul also fielded questions about his new training system following his loss to Fury, his hall-of-fame possibilities and the current face of boxing.

Heading into the fight with Diaz, Paul returned to former head coach and boxing hall-of-famer Sugar Shane Mosley with a new support team.

“I've switched up pretty much the whole entire team and brought in new people who are going to hold me accountable for my mistakes that I make even in the gym, even down to the nutrition, strength and conditioning coaches,” he said. “I learned a lot from the last fight, and I'm just implementing those things into my training camp and not going to make the same mistakes.”

Paul said he is excited to display his final form in the ring after training camp.

“I feel like a whole completely different fighter already in just a short amount of time. We still have 88 days until the fight, so I'm excited to keep on working. This is going to be my best performance yet.”

The Problem Child asked the media to name a boxer who has done more than he has for today’s boxing.

“What has Floyd Mayweather done for women's boxing?” he asked. “The list goes on. I've changed the whole entire game. Brought a new 70 million followers to the sport and put on bigger pay-per-views than some of these Hall of Fame guys... So you want to talk about Hall of Famers, you want to talk about resume? Yeah, I'm building it up. I just got started in this game. This is my eighth fight, and I'm fighting Nate Diaz, one of the biggest MMA fighters in history.”

Both fighters agreed to treat this matchup as “Do or Die” for their careers. Should Diaz beat him, Paul revealed he would retire as a boxer.

“Legacy,” said Paul when asked why he is still fighting after already making millions in the ring. “Testing myself and challenging myself to become a world champion, that’s my ultimate life goal right now since everything else in my life is set. I could retire and focus on my investments. My sports betting company, all these other things that I do, acting, working on a movie, all this stuff. Just that passion and still knowing that I haven’t done what I’m capable of in this sport yet and that I’m going to continue to get better and better and better until I can become a world champion, and that’s my goal, that’s what drives me.”