Bisping Not Too Impressed With Paul Vs. Diaz Booking

The upcoming boxing match between Jake Paul and Nate Diaz scheduled for Aug. 5 in Dallas, Tex., has produced mixed reviews and for good reason. It’s a fun matchup on paper, but is Diaz really the best possible choice for Paul?

Paul, who already has one foot out the boxing door in advance to his anticipated MMA debut, is still trying to prove that he’s a professional fighter inside of the ring. His recent grudge match with Tommy Fury this past February was supposed to cement his status as just that, but “Problem Child” was defeated by Fury via split decision and ended up tasting his first pro loss.

Many thought Paul was going to finally compete against fellow social media sensation, KSI, but he has opted to welcome Diaz to the squared circle. Combat enthusiast and former UFC middleweight champion, Michael Bisping, believes that Paul is looking for another opportunity against someone who isn’t a real boxer.

“You do learn more from your losses more than what you do your victories but he’s not talking about that,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “He’s saying, ‘Listen, everyone just thinks I’m vulnerable.’ Well, you were clearly showing that when you first went up against a professional boxer, not a basketballer, not a wrestler, not a past his prime MMA guy, this was a boxer. He was young, a novice boxer, and you got beat fair and square. So you are more vulnerable, but it’s not the best thing that’s happened to your career.

“Now you’re saying your team wanted you to take an easy fight like KSI. Well, yeah that would be the natural thing to do because you are a YouTuber yourself. Make a s*** ton of money. I’m not hating. It’s just all this talk about taking on [Saul] ‘Canelo’ [Alvarez] and being one of the greatest boxers that ever lived. He stepped up against Tommy and he got his ass kicked. Let’s be honest. Maybe not kicked, he got beat bloody fair and square.”

While some have been impressed by Paul’s evolution as a boxer Bisping still isn’t sold on “Problem Child” being the real deal. The UFC color commentator would like to see Paul capture a win over someone other than an aging veteran from another sport before giving his props.

“Nate Diaz, this will be a fun fight,” Bisping said. “Nate Diaz is no walk in the park. Very, very tough. Extremely hard to finish. Granted, he’s not a boxer, he’s almost 40 years old. He’s got a great submission game, you can’t use that. But the hands of Nate Diaz, they’re good. You can’t deny that.

“Listen, I’m not hating on Jake Paul, but this is the pattern, this is the flow. It’s an almost 40 non-boxer. It’s a guy who’s a submission specialist with decent hands. He’s much smaller. Diaz is very tall, he’s not a small man by any stretch of the imagination. But he did fight the majority of his career as a lightweight, okay? So it is going to be very interesting to see how it goes down.”