Nate Diaz chose to be a free agent soon after his contract with the UFC came to an end. Now, Diaz is looking forward to one of the biggest boxing matches of the year between him and Jake Paul. The match will take place on August 5, and fans already hope that they will blow the roof off the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The two opponents finally came face-to-face at the pre-fight press conference. When the most-awaited meeting between Paul and Diaz took place, fans got to hear a piece of their mind. 

The former UFC star opened up about his long-cherished dream to be a professional boxer. At the moment, Diaz is looking forward only to big fights. In the press conference, he expressed how he always wanted to be a professional boxer, but that he was locked in the cage. Diaz was so fully occupied with his UFC contracts that it took him years to get out of them finally. At the moment, he feels that he has a worthy opponent for his professional boxing debut.

Nate Diaz talks about being stuck as an MMA fighter

During the pre-fight press conference, Diaz said, “I was taking offense because I was being stereotyped as an MMA fighter. Tommy Fury, I think, was saying ‘they’re MMA fighters who [Jake Paul] is fighting.’ … I was offended because he was saying these were MMA fighters and not boxers but Anderson Silva would whoop Tommy Fury’s as* so, that was kind of stupid. But I don’t like being stereotyped as an MMA fighter.“

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Talking further on the same topic, he added, “I would have been a pro boxer when I was 18 years old, but a cage fight came up first, so I was stuck in a cage my whole career. There were times when I got locked in a contract right away from the UFC. So I was already locked down from the beginning.” Diaz wanted to tell the world about his passion for boxing, even though people failed to acknowledge it.

Diaz plans to stay in boxing

The Stockton-native’s MMA fighting career spanned over nineteen years. He was with the UFC for fifteen long years. The Californian fighter is happy about getting to fight Jake Paul for his pro boxing debut, as his dream is finally becoming true. He was clearly offended when ‘The Problem Child’s former rival, Tommy Fury, tried to label him as an MMA fighter who wanted to try his hands at boxing after being a free agent.

READ MORE: Before Fight Against Jake Paul, Nate Diaz Set to Appear in Court over New Orleans Fight Incident Against Logan Paul Look-Alike

While speaking at the press conference, Diaz seemed to have great faith in his boxing skills. But that’s not it. Two-weight world champion Andre Ward would often spar with Diaz in order to prepare for elite-level boxing opponents. Back in 2022, Ward certified Diaz was a tough sparring opponent because he would throw “a million punches from a million different angles.” In fact, he also helped Ward prepare for the Chad Dawson match. Thus, it would only be more interesting to see how Nate Diaz performs against Jake Paul. What do you think?

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