Jake Paul announces August 5 boxing match with MMA star Nate Diaz

Fresh off his first boxing defeat to Tommy Fury, Jake Paul is headed back to the ring, this time, to face MMA star Nate Diaz.

Paul, 26, and Diaz, 37, will square off on August 5 on DAZN pay-per-view at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

‘My last fight didn’t end the way I wanted, but the result was the best thing that could have happened to my professional boxing aspirations,’ Paul said in a press release through his promotion company, MVP.  ‘Now, the world thinks I am vulnerable, when all I am is more focused than ever. Nate Diaz is considered one of the most bad-ass fighters of all time, but he and his team have been running their mouths for too long.’

Diaz and Paul have been trading insults through the media for 18 months, perhaps with an eye towards eventually stepping in the right together. 

‘Besides Canelo he’s the biggest thang in boxing,’ said Diaz, who is currently an MMA free agent after years of success in the UFC. ‘I’m here to conquer that. I’m the King of combat sports and then I’m headed back to get my UFC belts.’

Jake Paul (left) will square off with MMA star Nate Diaz (right) on August 5 in Dallas 

Paul (left) took the first defeat of his professional boxing career in Saudi Arabia in February

Diaz, of Stockton, California, has been with UFC since 2007. He’s wildly popular for his willingness to take on all comers and engage in exciting fights, most memorably in a high-profile pair of bouts with Conor McGregor, during which each fighter won one apiece. 

He stopped Tony Ferguson with a guillotine choke in the fourth round of the hastily arranged main event of UFC 279 last September — the last bout of his contract with Dana White’s promotion. 

The MMA legend isn’t exactly a novice to boxing. 

He’s reportedly been trained by undefeated former light heavyweight champion Andre Ward. 

‘People tell me Nate has been training with Andre Ward for years,’ Paul said in his statement. ‘That he has insane stamina. That he refuses to back down. Good for f****** Nate.’

In addition to trading barbs on social media, Diaz and Paul’s teams got into a backstage altercation during an October boxing match in Arizona. 

‘I haven’t forgotten about the slap backstage in Arizona, and on August 5th, a Problem Child is going to piece up and knock out the Stockton G,’ Paul said, using both his and Diaz’s nicknames. 

Nate Diaz prepares to fight Tony Ferguson in a welterweight fight during the UFC 279

Paul took the first defeat of his professional boxing career in Saudi Arabia in February, losing a split decision to heavyweight champion Tyson Fury’s younger half-brother, Tommy.

Paul (6-1) as a boxer knocked down Fury with a short left hand early in the final round of their cruiserweight bout, but Tommy Fury controlled long stretches of the eight-round meeting at Diriyah Arena.

Two judges scored the bout 76-73 for Fury (9-0, 4 KOs), while the third favored Paul, 75-74.

‘I’ve already won every single way in life,’ Paul said at the time. ‘I made it farther than I ever thought I would, and beyond. This is a humbling experience. I’ll take it on the chin and come back.’

Fury is the first actual professional boxer fought by Paul, who built his lucrative second career by taking on mixed martial artists and a fellow YouTuber in boxing bouts that generated huge social media attention despite featuring more enthusiasm than skill.

Paul appeared to stun Fury with an accurate left hook early in the fifth round, but he also lost a point when the referee penalized him, apparently for pushing down on Fury’s head in a clinch. The referee then took a point from Fury in the sixth, apparently for excessive clinching.