Nate Diaz avenged his previous MMA loss to Jorge Masvidal by winning a 10-round boxing match via majority decision and expressed interest in rematches against Jake Paul and UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards.
Nate Diaz checked one rematch off his wish list on Saturday.
In his second fight with Jorge Masvidal, Diaz defeated his one-time UFC rival via majority decision in a 10-round boxing match at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. It wasn’t a textbook runback — their first fight happened under MMA rules at UFC 244, where Masvidal defeated Diaz via doctor stoppage — but it’s one in the win column for Diaz all the same.
Now that he’s avenged that loss, Diaz has other past foes in mind. In the ring post-fight, Diaz called out Jake Paul and UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards as opponents he’d like to beat after previously suffering losses to them. He discussed those names further speaking to the media.
“Just off the top of my head, I would like to whip [Paul’s] ass,” Diaz said at the evening’s post-fight press conference. “I would like to get a win against Leon Edwards, who’s the best fighter in the world right now at 170 [pounds]. I think that’s something major who actually brings something that I can take and put in a credential box; that’s what I’m going for. I’m not playing for no f*cking fun fights because that shit ain’t fun.”
Paul defeated Diaz via majority decision this past August in what was Diaz’s boxing debut following a 15-year run with the UFC. After Diaz mentioned Paul live on Saturday’s broadcast, “The Problem Child” answered on social media.
“F*ck you, Nate Diaz, you’re a ho who ducked my PFL $15 million offer,” Paul wrote on Twitter, referring to a previous challenge he’d made for Diaz to fight him in PFL under MMA rules.
Despite that response, Diaz seems confident that the rematch is a possibility.
“It’s fcking pretty realistic as far as I’m concerned,” Diaz said. “That’s the only thing I got in my head is whoever thinks they’re fcking tight can get their ass whooped.”
As for Edwards, he clashed with Diaz at UFC 263 in June 2021. Though Edwards went on to win a comfortable decision, he was rocked badly by Diaz in the fifth round—a moment that Diaz has worn as a badge of pride ever since. Edwards later went on to defeat Kamaru Usman for the UFC welterweight title and is scheduled to defend it against Belal Muhammad in the main event of UFC 304 on July 27.
On Saturday, Diaz was a winner on the scorecards for the first time in almost five years. When asked about Masvidal criticizing the judging, he suggested Masvidal’s power punches weren’t as effective as they looked.
“I think he threw harder shots and was trying KO but couldn’t get no job done,” said Diaz. “I never really got hurt. He hit me with a couple of things; I was like ‘Alright motherf*cker,’ not gonna let you do that again.’ If it was [less] rounds, we could have done more damage but it was 10 rounds so treated it like that.”
Another former opponent made headlines: Conor McGregor tweeted he’d put $500K on Nate—a near 3-to-1 underdog—to defeat Masvidal. When Nate won? That six-figure wager turned into $1.625 million payout according to McGregor.
Diaz and McGregor were involved in blockbuster headlining bouts back in ’16—each holding one win over each other. Told of McGregor’s gambling success?
“That’s cool,” smirked Nate. “Good job for us.”