Daniel Cormier thinks Nate Diaz would be Jake Paul’s biggest fight to date.
Diaz officially became a free agent after the UFC waived his exclusive negotiating period Monday night. Paul wasted no time to call out Diaz after the news broke, and Cormier expects the fight to happen.
Paul is coming off his biggest win yet last month, when he managed to drop and outlast former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in an eight-round boxing match. But Cormier thinks fighting Diaz would be even bigger for Paul – especially from a sales standpoint.
“I think Diaz is gonna fight Jake Paul,” Cormier said on his “DC & RC” ESPN show. “Everything seems right for that to be the fight just because Nate is the opponent type that we seem to see Jake Paul in with. A guy that is no longer in the UFC, a guy that has a boxing background or has the ability to box but not seem as dangerous.
“I thought Anderson Silva was very dangerous, but as you know, Nate beats you with volume. He isn’t a guy that just knocks you out. So I think that kind of plays to what Jake Paul would look for and an opponent, especially a guy that can help to move the needle, because he’s never had a guy in there with him that moves the needle like Nathan Diaz.”
A potential fight between Paul and Diaz already has been brewing. During last month’s Showtime pay-per-view event where the YouTube star defeated Silva, Diaz got into a backstage altercation with members of Paul’s team.
Daniel Cormier: Nate Diaz ‘moves the needle’ like none of Jake Paul’s previous opponents
