‘He’s Slow … He Lost It’

The odds-on favorite to win the latest “Jake Paul Sweepstakes” is former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight and Welterweight contender, Nate Diaz. It’s an opportunity that is as real as it gets because the Stockton slugger is no longer bound by his iron-clad UFC contract.

Paul is fresh off his unanimous decision win over former UFC Middleweight champion, Anderson Silva, this past weekend (Sat., Oct. 29, 2022) in Glendale, Ariz. (highlights), one of the greatest mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters ever.

So, taking on Diaz would be an easy night at the office.

“If he’s actually out of his UFC contract, I would be down,” Paul said about a potential fight against Diaz during a recent interview on The MMA Hour (via MMA Fighting). “I just beat one of the greatest MMA fighters of all-time — Nate Diaz is easy work,” he added, before calling Diaz nothing more than a “street fighter.”

“Anderson Silva is way more difficult than Nate Diaz. He’s slow and at the end of his career. He’s lost it, as far as striking. Maybe he still has jiu-jitsu. But, as far as striking and all that, he’s just a street fighter, and boxing is the purest sport.

“It’s art,” Paul continued. “You can’t come in and street fight someone in a boxing match. Anderson has length, has the height, Anderson hits harder, is more slippery, has better head movement, the list goes on. So, I know that Nate is easier.”

While not known for his knockout power, Nate and his older brother, Nick Diaz, have developed a reputation over the years as high-volume strikers who wear down their opponents throughout the course of a fight. Still, Diaz has yet to take part in a professional boxing match, and, while Paul hasn’t won the respect of everyone in the combat world, he has improved leaps and bounds when it comes to his striking.

For now, Diaz’s next combat move is very much up in the air, but boxing has always been on his to-do list. With UFC behind him (for now), it will be interesting to see if MVP Promotions can come up with a big enough number to entice the Stockton slugger to lace up the gloves against “The Problem Child.”

Let’s get goofy?