Clay Collard had high hopes Nate Diaz would showcase better boxing when he faced Jake Paul in August.
It’s safe to say Collard wasn’t impressed.
While he stuck around until the final bell, Diaz ultimately lost a fairly one-sided unanimous decision to Paul in what served as Diaz’s professional boxing debut. Diaz has repeatedly called for a rematch while Paul continues to challenge him to run it back in MMA instead.
Collard, who boasts a 9-6-3 in his own pro boxing career, erupted when addressing Diaz’s performance in the fight with Paul.
“I was like they got Nate Diaz and I thought he might do all right but then watching him box, it was like he was a low-level amateur who didn’t know how to throw a punch properly,” Collard told MMA Fighting.
“At first, I’m like OK Diaz is tough, he might do the MMA niche proud against the YouTube guy in boxing. Then he came out and looked like f****** garbage.”
Despite Diaz’s history training with high-level boxers such as Andre Ward in the past, Collard felt like the UFC veteran didn’t even understand the basics when it came to throwing punches in the fight with Paul.
Collard says that was the most frustrating part watching the fight because he believes Diaz looked lost in there, which allowed Paul to add another win to his resume without facing any extreme risks.
“His boxing looked like s***,” Collard said about Diaz. “Ducking his head down, ducking down all low, leading with that. Like where’s your f****** jab at, bro? You’re long, you’re lanky, throw a f****** jab, Nate Diaz. It’s extremely frustrating. The guy can’t box, sorry.”
Right now, Collard’s only focus is beating Olivier Aubin-Mercier in the main event at the PFL Championship card on Friday but he definitely still wants to return to boxing one day again in the future.
Ideally, Collard would love the chance to face someone like Paul, who has faced several prominent MMA fighters during his boxing career.
“Let’s get somebody in there that knows how to box a little bit. Let me fight him,” Collard said. “Let’s find out. I don’t know how it would turn out. Tell Jake Paul to sign the contract and we’ll see.
“I’m going to keep talking. Maybe my name isn’t big enough for him but f*** k him for that then. I don’t have a big enough following. Let me fight you and we’ll see who has a bigger following after that. I’m going to have to run my mouth a little more and get that payday.”
As far as his upcoming fight in the PFL, Collard can’t wait to finally compete for the lightweight championship and the $1 million prize after he’s come so close to both in the past.
He’s got a tough test ahead of him with Aubin-Mercier riding a nine-fight win streak including his run to become the 2022 PFL lightweight champion.
“I’ve been planning on fighting OAM in the championship since the beginning of the year,” Collard said. “I’ve been watching him and studying him and thinking about how I’m going to beat him since the beginning of the year. I’m thinking it’s a five round fight, I’m going to take it five rounds. I’m going to take it round by round and I have to win each round.
“I think my wrestling is underrated. I feel like my jiu-jitsu is underrated. If he wants to turn it into a wrestling match, I’m a squirrelly motherf***** and I’ve got submissions and I get to hit you. So if you want wrestle me, we’re going to wrestle and dirty box and we’re going to scare you with submissions. I’m not going to go down easy, that’s for sure. I’m going to be well prepared and wherever he wants to take it, we’re going to give it to him.”
