Nate Diaz finds himself comfortably centered in Jake Paul’s crosshairs after “The Problem Child’s” recent big win.
It’s nothing new for former or retired MMA fighters to be targeted by Paul, and Michael Bisping is no different. For a brief spell, the two bantered back and forth with “The Count” even sharing that some negotiations were presented in his direction. Obviously, nothing came to fruition and Paul has since gone on to defeat the likes of Bisping’s fellow former UFC champions, Tyron Woodley and Anderson Silva.
Paul earned a unanimous decision over Silva this past weekend, resulting in many believing he’s well on his way to next taking on the aforementioned Diaz who was in attendance for the bout. Bisping, however, isn’t so sure it’s a great idea for the Stockton, Calif. native.
“While the majority of Nate Diaz’s fights happened at 155, he was a lightweight then he went up to welterweight, 170-pounds, and he went 5-5,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “The only knockout that he got was against Rory Markham in 2010.
“Listen, with boxing gloves on, I don’t think it will be a good idea for Nate Diaz. Nate Diaz was a tremendous mixed martial artist. He beat some phenomenal people, had a tremendous career. He lost some fights and he won a lot of fights. The jiu-jitsu would be gone, the kicking game is gone, the general craftsmanship and the gameplans and the adversity of attacks, punches, kicks, knees, elbows, strangles, chokeholds, triangles, takedowns, you name it. That’s what Diaz could do. Those are the advantages he’d have over a Jake Paul.”
Diaz is officially home free from the UFC where he spent the past 15 years as a competitor. The one-time lightweight title challenger fought out his contract at UFC 279 this past September, picking up a fourth-round guillotine submission win over Tony Ferguson.
Against Ferguson, Diaz once again competed at 170-pounds, but has never fought higher than that in his professional combat sports career. Regardless, the option is readily there for Diaz to go toe-to-toe with Paul. At the same time, he didn’t fully close the door on a UFC return when on his way out.
“If he was to fight Jake Paul and at that weight, 200-pounds or 196-pounds, whatever weight they want to come in at, I don’t think it would go very well for Nate Diaz,” Bisping said. “However, I will say this, I think they would both make a lot of money.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the UFC come back and offer Diaz a mega deal to get that third fight with [Conor] McGregor because come on, everyone wants to see that.”
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