Nate Diaz dismisses the notion that he’s taken too much damage.
Diaz makes his pro boxing debut Aug. 5 in Dallas, where he’ll take on YouTuber-turned-professional boxer Jake Paul in a 10-round, 185-pound matchup that headlines a pay-per-view co-promoted by DAZN and Diaz’s Real Fight Inc.
Diaz has been in numerous wars throughout his UFC career, but heading into his boxing match with Paul, the superstar from Stockton, Calif., isn’t concerned.
“I don’t really be eating punches like how they say,” Diaz said on The Pat McAfee show. “I bleed because of the forearms and elbows and sh*t cut me up. But I’ve been in a boxing gym, and it might not look like it, but I roll with a lot of these punches that anybody lands on me. I’m not just walking in like a meathead into punches. I’ve never been knocked out. I’ve never really even been f*cking stunned stupid or nothing like that.
“So these f*ckers are talking about how I talk and how I’ve got f*cking CTE or some sh*t. I’m like, ‘Bro, I’ve been talking this way the whole motherf*cking time.’ It’s got nothing to do with getting hit or none of that. I’m smarter now than ever.. … I think he has a long night ahead of him. I believe I do as well, but I’m not afraid of it and I’m ready to rock and roll.”
Diaz has only been stopped due to strikes once in his career courtesy of a Josh Thomson head kick and follow-up punches in 2013 – which didn’t put him out cold. The only other TKO loss on his record was a Round 3 doctor’s stoppage due to a cut he sustained in his UFC 244 “BMF” title fight against Jorge Masvidal.
For more on the matchup, visit MMA Junkie’s hub for Paul vs. Diaz.