In a move only he could make, Nate Diaz has thrown the combat sports world a curveball, placing a massive bet on Jake Paul‘s victory while simultaneously calling for an MMA fight against both Paul and his opponent, Anthony Joshua.

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The Nate Diaz braggadocio has gained considerable traction, it seems. In an Instagram post sharing a screenshot of the Biggerz bet, the Stockton native wrote, “I’m betting on this b***.” By placing $20,000 on Jake Paul to win the boxing match, he stands to earn a whopping $142,000. He also claimed that he could take both fighters on the same night.

Just days ago, while speaking with N3On, Diaz remarked, “I want to beat the f*** out of Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua, if he wins,” when the live streamer asked him about his next fight. It’s a stark shift from the days when Diaz wrote, “Fight accepted. You’re dead,” after news broke that Jake Paul was searching for a new dance partner. Now, he’s betting on the very fighter he once vowed to destroy.

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It has been over a year since Nate Diaz last stepped into a fight.

Paul dangled a Diaz fight, then ditched the idea

His most recent outing, a boxing match against rival Jorge Masvidal, ended in a win. The closely contested bout was a far cry from the loss he suffered at the hands of Jake Paul during his boxing debut. At the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Paul took him the full ten rounds to earn a unanimous decision.

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Since then, talk of a rematch between the two has continued to swirl.

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There was a time when Jake Paul himself expressed interest in a cage fight with Nate Diaz. “I for sure want to fight Nate Diaz in MMA… Like, bro, that’s my life’s dream. I would f–king maul his weak a–. He’s probably the worst fighter I ever fought. And Conor got torched by him,” he once told close associate and business partner “Suga” Sean O’Malley.

However, given how things have shifted, Diaz may now be a memory best left behind. True to form, Jake Paul brushed aside Nate Diaz along with a slew of other names that surfaced after the Tank Davis fight fell through.

“So there I was, on a Saturday afternoon in my $30 million mansion… Canelo, injured; Francis Ngannou, scared; Floyd Mayweather, my brother beat him; Mike Tyson, done that; Lennox Lewis, too young; Ryan Garcia, easy work; Tommy Fury, wanted more time; Nate Diaz, been there, done that; Conor McGregor, owned; Logan Paul, maybe… Sydney Sweeney, that’s not a bad idea…” he said.

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So even if Jake Paul wins, it’s not clear whether that triumph will move him any closer to the “Stockton Slap.”

What’s your take? How badly do you want to see a Paul–Diaz rematch?

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Jaideep R Unnithan

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Jaideep R. Unnithan is a Senior Boxing Writer at EssentiallySports and one of the division’s most trusted voices. Since joining in October 2022, he has brought a deep love for the sport into every story, whether reporting on live bouts with the ES LiveEvent Desk or unpacking the legacy of fighters from different eras as part of the features desk. Trained under EssentiallySports’ prestigious Journalistic Excellence Program, which is a specialized training initiative designed to refine top writers' skills through mentorship and advanced sports journalism techniques, Jaideep’s writing reflects a quiet authority shaped by two years of covering boxing’s flashpoints and fault lines. He is drawn to the warrior code of legends like Alexis Argüello and Marvin Hagler, while also staying attuned to the promise of rising stars like Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez, David Benavidez, and Dmitry Bivol. Jaideep has a special fascination with Naoya Inoue’s old-school grit. Beyond writing, he reads widely, a habit that sharpens his storytelling, whether he’s tracing the rhythm of a classic fight or preparing his next ringside dispatch. Before joining EssentiallySports, Jaideep worked as a client manager and team manager in corporate roles, bringing strong organizational and communication skills to his journalistic career. He has also completed notable certifications, including a Non-Fiction Book Writing Workshop.

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Jayakrishna Dasappan