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Jake Paul isn’t satisfied with outboxing Nate Diaz.
The Paul-Diaz series is already 1-0 in Paul’s favor with “The Problem Child” winning a unanimous decision over Diaz in their recent boxing match. Prior to that bout, Paul was so confident he would defeat Diaz that he offered the longtime UFC star a rematch in MMA for $10 million. One sticking point is that Paul is currently signed to the PFL, while Diaz has said he would likely return to the UFC for future MMA bouts.
Opening odds for the prospective MMA bout have Diaz as a massive favorite, but Paul believes that, with enough training, he can beat the 34-fight veteran.
“Not right now, but in a year maybe,” Paul said with a laugh on his brother Logan’s Impaulsive podcast. “Honestly, I will will it into existence and I will work so f****** hard that I can do it. The best part about is that MMA matches obviously start standing up like a boxing match. He can’t hurt me with punches, if his punches aren’t strong how are his kicks going to be. Of course, you can get a guillotine on someone when they’re not expecting it in a f****** boxing match, duh.”
Paul was referring to a moment in the 10th round of their fight, where Diaz momentarily had Paul locked in a guillotine choke. Though Diaz would likely have been disqualified had he locked it in (Paul later said that he could feel Diaz legitimately choking him), the exchange was enough for Diaz to later joke that under MMA rules he technically won.
Diaz has an enormous advantage when it comes to mixing the martial arts, but Paul has already convinced himself that there’s a scenario where that experience gap won’t matter.
“If I can prepare for it, the crazy thing about it, I’ve done the calculations in my head,” Paul said. “We start standing up. I learn kicks, I learn how to defend kicks. I’m beating his ass standing up clear as day in boxing. He tries to get close to me, I can just stick and move. He tries to take me down, my takedown defense and takedowns are better than his. I have way higher wrestling experience than his. He’s not going to be able to take me down. He’s slow, so I’m going to see the shots coming. Boom, block the shots.
“He can’t take me down to submit me. It becomes a standing match. Three five-minute rounds, easy. I just fought for 30 minutes, that’s only 15 minutes. I can work twice as hard in half the amount of time, expend twice as much energy to keep him away from me, while punching, not letting him take me down, and I will just simply have to watch out for his guillotine.”
The bout is nowhere near official and a number of options remain open to Paul, who could participate in another boxing match before making any further overtures towards the MMA world. Still, he’s confident that his MMA debut will be a successful one if given time.
“Seriously, with eight to nine months of training, I know I can beat Nate Diaz in MMA,” Paul said.
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