UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley is not convinced by the hype around a potential Jake Paul vs Nate Diaz fight. Paul and Diaz have long traded barbs via social media, and with Diaz recently released from his UFC contract, it seems that he might step into the squared circle with the controversial YouTuber. O’Malley cast doubt on the prospect in a recent interview with The MMA Hour.
“He impressed me, Jake impressed me. I thought the later the fight went on, I thought Anderson might kind of put it on him, if it continued to go into the later rounds. But I think it just goes to show how good of shape Jake was in, how serious he took the fight camp, how serious he takes the sport.
O’Malley Casts Doubt on Potential Paul vs Diaz Bout
He was throwing good combos on the inside, he was going to the body nice, he was doing a lot of things right. And I was very impressed with Jake.”
O’Malley’s impression of Jake Paul – that he’s much better than he seems – is the main reason he doesn’t expect to see Paul face Diaz any time soon. Although Nate Diaz has never been one to back down from a challenge, facing a younger, larger, stronger opponent in a sport that Nate Diaz has never competed in is a very different prospect.
Four of Paul’s five pro boxing opponents so far have been UFC retirees, and all four of them appeared to expect a relatively easy victory over the former Disney star. Nate Diaz might think twice about making that assumption.
“I always want to see the biggest fights. Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz is the biggest fight. That’s what I would like to see. Jake, I think, wants to be taken more seriously by fighting a real boxer and go after a belt. But I think I’m like, you might as well fight Nate Diaz.
And I don’t know if Nate takes that fight. Nate might’ve seen — you know, Jake looked good. It’s not like Nate probably looked at him and thought, ‘Well, I’ll go in there and just whoop him.’ So that might be a fight that Nate doesn’t even really take.
I don’t know if Jake beats Nate — what he showed versus Anderson, I would say that there’s a very good chance. So I think it would be an epic fight.”
Do you think Sean O’Malley is right about Paul vs Diaz? Let us know in the comments.
