‘He’ll Eventually Need Or Want The Money’

Paul detailed his process when looking for a debut PFL opponent, why Nate Diaz is perfect, and why Diaz doesn’t seem to want that fight.

Last week the PFL got a big bump in attention when promotion president Donn Davis shared footage of Jake Paul in the PFL cage wearing PFL gloves. Paul signed with the Professional Fighters League at the start of 2023 and has been teasing his MMA debut since then.

Was this video a sign that Paul’s first MMA fight is coming soon? Well, there’s nothing locked in, but things could move fast once the right opponent shows up. Paul is set to box cruiserweight veteran Andre August on December 15th, but he hasn’t stopped thinking about his first bout in the PFL SmartCage.

On the latest episode of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, “The Problem Child” said the video and photos were “to make sure that we have headshots and some videos ready in case an opponent comes out of nowhere.”

“We want to make an MMA fight happen quickly,” Paul continued. “I think that’s the biggest thing with me going over to MMA, just the opponent has to make a ton of sense. It has to be a big name but at the same time it has to be a fight where I think it’s 50-50.”

“Nate Diaz is the perfect person, because I genuinely wholeheartedly in the bottom of my heart know that I could beat him. But I also know it’s going to be a challenge and that I’d have to really, really, really work for it. But that’s what that’s what excites me, like I said is always going into these fights with it being a 50-50 percent chance of outcome.”

Unfortunately for Jake and the PFL, Nate Diaz has been extremely resistant to the idea of fighting in the PFL. He’s suggested they compete under Nate’s own Real Fight Promotions, which was technically an equal partner in the Diaz vs. Paul boxing bout.

“You either want to make this happen or not,” Paul explained. “And he’s saying ‘Oh, we’ll do it under Real Fight [Promotions]. That’s not a real thing, by the way. We taught them about the business, we taught them how to run their operations, we let them put their logos on the mat.”

“They don’t have a promotion, they don’t have any infrastructure, they don’t have the funding to make any event possible. So he’s just hiding behind this notion that he doesn’t want to fight in the PFL.”

Paul isn’t giving up on the fight, but he’s not holding his breath either.

“Look man, I think he’s eventually going to need or want the money,” Paul said. “So I’m not writing it off, but like I said, we were fully ready to make it happen and he’s just gone silent.”