Nate Diaz believed that, in his professional boxing debut, if he could force Jake Paul to go 10 rounds instead of eight, it would be to his advantage. But instead, Paul (7-1, 4 KO) showed once again why MMA fighters have struggled to find their footing in the boxing ring by dominating nearly every round of the fight to score a clear unanimous decision victory on Saturday night in Dallas.
Paul's boxing was too technical for Diaz, who tried to ugly things up with a face-first style and slapping combinations. Paul had the power to counter Diaz's awkwardness, rattling him in the first round and scoring a fifth-round knockdown off a step-back left hook that sent Diaz nearly spilling through the ropes.
Diaz had moments, but Paul's power was the deciding factor and his cardio never faltered, even fighting 10 rounds for the first time in his career.
"He's tough," Paul said after the fight. "He's real tough, that's what he's known for. But tough in this sport doesn't work. ... I knocked him down, won basically every round. He's a warrior, you know. I hurt him in the first round but he kept on coming."
Diaz pulled out many of the same tricks that made him a fan favorite in his lengthy mixed martial arts career as he taunted, feigned being hurt and made the fight awkward in various ways. While those unusual tactics seemed to throw Paul off his game in the early rounds, by the 10th, Paul was ignoring them and using Diaz's behavior as an opportunity to land clean punches on an opponent who was willingly putting himself out of position.
In the end, Paul won the fight on the scorecards, with the judges turning in scores of 97-92, 98-91 and 98-91.
After the win, Paul reiterated his desire to fight Diaz in mixed martial arts, the MMA promotion Paul signed with and has equity in.
"I want to run it back in MMA," Paul said. "$10 million in PFL, that's the offer. Let's run it back in MMA. Your territory, let's do it."
Diaz was quick to accept the proposed rematch, saying his Real Fight Inc. promotion would need to be involved.
"He needed a takedown. He needed a choke. He did a good job. He's a f---ing athletic, strong dude and he hits hard and fast, but it ain't nothing I hadn't seen before, and I trained with people who were [like that]. These guys can throw down. It's good sh*t," Diaz said. "I should have been throwing punches, keeping him on the outside. I'm not trying to make an excuse, but about a month back I hurt my right arm, a bit. I think I should've kept to the outside and circled, and done better stuff. But it's all good. There's no way I [wouldn't] show up for a fight because of something like that. You gotta go regardless, no matter what."
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Diaz has also expressed a desire to return to the UFC, the promotion in which he fought for from 2007 to 2022. Should Diaz pursue that route rather than taking Paul's deal to fight in PFL, it leaves Paul with an obvious potential opponent.
"Yeah, look, it's back to the drawing board," Paul said. "Tommy Fury rematch, he won by split decision, I'm trying to get that back. I'm just happy with this win, man.
"The loss was seriously the best thing. It set me on the path I was supposed to be on and you can't cut corners in this sport. I was in the gym the day after the loss. I flew back from the Middle East and went to the gym every single day up until this fight."
Fury handed Paul the first loss of his boxing career in February. Paul scored a late knockdown, but that wasn't enough to win on more than one scorecard at the time. A potential rematch has been discussed but Fury is currently set to face another influencer-turned-boxer in KSI on Oct. 14.
The undercard saw a mixed bag of results with four of the five fights reaching the judges' scorecard. Undisputed women's featherweight champion Amanda Serrano battered Heather Hardy en route to a unanimous decision in a rematch of their 2019 showdown. One of Diaz's training partners, Chris Avila, also took home a unanimous decision in a six-round contest over former UFC fighter Jeremy Stephens. The lone finish came from 19-year-old prospect Ashton Sylve as he landed a beautiful body shot that sent William Silva straight to the canvas in Round 4.
CBS Sports was with you throughout the entire way on Saturday with the live results and highlights below.
Fight card, results
- Jake Paul def. Nate Diaz via unanimous decision (97-92, 98-91, 98-91)
- Amanda Serrano (c) def. Heather Hardy via unanimous decision (99-91, 100-90, 100-90)
- Chris Avila def. Jeremy Stephens via unanimous decision (59-55, 59-55, 60-54)
- Ashton Sylve def. William Silva via KO, Round 4
- Shadasia Green def. Olivia Curry via unanimous decision (99-91, 100-90, 100-89)
- Alan Sanchez def. Angel Beltran via unanimous decision (77-75, 78-74, 79-73)
Paul vs. Diaz scorecard, live coverage
| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 98 |
| Diaz | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 91 |
