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UFC's Dana White on Nate Diaz: 'He Probably Should Go on and Fight Jake Paul'
June 21, 2022
UFC President Dana White thinks that Nate Diaz "probably should go on and fight Jake Paul" and that the proposed bout "makes sense."
White spoke with Oscar Willis of TheMacLife (h/t MMA Fighting Newswire) on the matter.
"I mean, I like Nate. Let’s be honest, Nate’s won one fight in the last five or six years. You know? When these guys get into these positions, you’ve got guys that have been with us for a long time, that we respect, that we care about. You know, you’ve got Cerrones and Anthony Pettis before he left, and you’ve got Nate Diaz, and Nick Diaz is still under contract with us. So you want to be fair to everybody, you want to do the right things or whatever. Nate Diaz isn’t going to come in and fight Kamaru Usman.
"So listen, we’re trying to do the best we can. We’re trying not to s--t on anybody and disrespect anybody, but it’s not like we’re talking about Kamaru Usman here. We’re talking about Nate Diaz. Nate’s won one fight in five years, so we’re trying to figure this thing out with him. He probably should go on and fight Jake Paul. That’s a fight that makes sense."
Diaz, who is under contract with UFC for one more fight, is looking for a bout by the end of the summer based on his Tuesday tweet. If that isn't possible, Diaz wants to be released.
Diaz also appeared to strongly hint at a desire to fight Jake Paul, an American YouTuber and social media personality who has gone 5-0 in his professional boxing career. He's notably knocked out ex-UFC welterweight champion Tyrone Woodley twice.
Paul appears interested in being Diaz's last UFC fight and said as much in a Tuesday tweet. He also referenced his continued push on behalf of UFC fights for healthcare and better pay.
Diaz, 37, has a career professional MMA record of 20-13. He is an eight-time Fight of the Night winner whose resume includes victories over Conor McGregor, Anthony Pettis, Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and Jim Miller.
