After their boxing match, Nate Diaz and Jake Paul seemed to agree that a rematch under MMA rules is next. Whether that comes to fruition or not is up for debate, but if it does, longtime Diaz teammate Gilbert Melendez expects Diaz to “destroy” Jake Paul despite Paul’s significant size advantage.
“Nate destroys this guy in MMA. I’d love to see it. I’d love to see it in boxing again, too. Run it back in boxing and then in MMA.
Why Nate Diaz “Destroys” Jake Paul In MMA Rematch
To me, [Nate] was clearly a better fighter, boxer, the power went to the young man and the durability went to Jake Paul for being young but towards the end I felt the momentum [shift] again.
The no quit in Nate coming around. That 9th and 10th rounds where Jake Paul’s getting tired, he’s hugging, he’s losing steam, he can’t put him away. Obviously, I think the size made a difference. A smaller man would have withered sooner.
I thought Nate did a great job. Just two significant moments happened for Jake Paul that made Nate have to come back a little bit and I believe he was on his way to coming back both those times in that fifth round before he got clipped and then in that 10th round when Jake Paul was holding on and just kind of letting time expire.”
One of those “moments” was Paul landing a brutal hook to Diaz’s head that sent the UFC veteran tumbling out of the ring.
If the rematch takes place, Jake’s youth and size won’t be enough to bridge the skill gap in Nate Diaz’s terrifying grappling prowess.“You may land a good jab or a good shot but we can clinch.
We can clinch and there’s no referee there to break you up. What’s going to happen then when we get in that grappling zone?
It’s just a different sport. You could train, you could become a blue belt [in Brazilian jiu-jitsu] but it takes so much time to become a black belt.
The grappling, the wrestling, is very complex to learn compared to the boxing. I’m not saying it’s easy to succeed but when I have people sign up at my gym and they’re like ‘what should I do first?’
You’ll probably succeed at boxing first. Meaning it’s just your hands, one-two, one-two, some punches. There’s a lot to it [with MMA] — adding kicks, jiu-jitsu, wrestling. It takes so much time to learn that and then to put it together in MMA.”
