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Social media influencer Jake Paul returns to the boxing ring Saturday, August 5 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas when he takes on MMA veteran Nate Diaz in 10-round boxing match in the cruiserweight class. Paul (6-1, 4 KOs) is coming off of a loss to Tommy Fury, the first loss of his boxing career. Diaz is making his boxing debut after posting a 21-13 record in MMA. In the co-main event unified women’s featherweight champion Amanda Serrano will be defending against Heather Hardy. ESPN+ PPV will handle the broadcast with the main card beginning at 9 p.m. ET.
Paul (6-1, 4 KOs) is a -390 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Jake Paul fight history
Paul, 26, has had seven pro fights and this will be the fifth against a mixed martial artists. He is 5-0 against MMA fights with two wins over Tyron Woodley, one by knockout, and wins over Ben Askren and Anderson Silva. Paul also has a deal with the Professional Fighters League where he is expected to participate in MMA fights at some point in 2024.
His career started out as more of a gimmick, with Paul beating fellow YouTuber AnEnsoGib by first-round knockout in his first fight. Paul’s next fights against Nate Robinson and Askren ended in the same fashion. Eventually people began to take notice of Paul’s fights and his boastful attitude, forcing him to up the competition a little bit. Paul still fought MMA fights, but Woodley was a former UFC welterweight champion with actual knockouts to his credit. Paul won their first fight on August 29, 2021 by a disputed split decision. In the rematch on December 18, 2021, however, Paul clocked Woodley with a hard left hand in the sixth round and knocked him out.
Paul’s next fight was against Anderson Silva, arguably the best MMA fighter during his era. This was another close battle for half the fight, but Paul knocked Silva down at one point and eventually won a unanimous decision. After several cancellations between Paul and Hassan Rahman Jr., he agreed to fight Tommy Fury, younger brother of World Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury. Paul got a knock down on Fury, but Fury was the sharper boxer and won a split decision, handing Paul the first loss of his career.