Nate Diaz reveals injury prior to Jake Paul fight, wants 'rematch in any art'
Editor’s note: This article was originally published at MMAJunkie.com.
***
DALLAS – Nate Diaz’s business with Jake Paul isn’t done after he suffered a loss in Saturday’s boxing match.
Diaz (0-1) came out on the wrong end of a unanimous decision against Paul (7-1, 4 KOs) in his boxing debut at American Airlines Center. He had his moments, but ultimately it didn’t go his way, and he contributes that in part to not being able to compete at 100 percent.
According to the UFC veteran, he sustained an arm injury weeks prior to the contest. Additionally, his coach Richard Perez said there was an issue with his knee, as well. Despite all that, Diaz said he never considered withdrawing.
“I’m not trying to make excuses, but about a month back I was trying to stay big and I hurt my arm a little bit,” Diaz told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the post-fight news conference. “It was wearing and tearing on my right arm if I was jabbing or doing stuff. … I think I should’ve kept on the outside and do more stuff. It’s all good.
“There’s no way I’m not going to show up for a fight for something like that, too. You’ve got to go regardless. No matter what.”
Although Diaz captured momentum in the latter rounds against Paul, he wasn’t able to do enough to sway the rounds in his favor. He credited Paul for his performance, and has no objections about the result.
“I know what I was coming for,” Diaz said. “I was coming for a fight with a big, strong, motivated guy trying to take over the world. Nothing surprised me in this s—. … I didn’t think I won. He got the knockdown and stuff, so I figured I won a good amount of rounds.”
After falling short in this initial encounter, Diaz said he expects to compete against Paul again in the future. He said he didn’t receive much damage in the bout, and would be ready to go again in “two, three, four months.”
What plays out in the future remains to be seen, though. Paul extended an offer to rematch Diaz in MMA under the PFL banner, and Diaz was warm to the idea. He said the fight would have to be a co-promotion with his Real Fight Inc. company, but if the details could be sorted, he would be happy to run it back in the setting where he would seemingly have a significant advantage.
“My goal is to get a rematch in any art,” Diaz said. “We’re going to see what happens and see if he really wants to do that. If not, I’ll be back in this hunting him down.”