UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping doesn’t see Nate Diaz having success against Jake Paul.
Diaz makes his pro boxing debut Aug. 5 in Dallas, where he’ll take on YouTuber-turned-professional-boxer Paul in a 10-round, 185-pound matchup that headlines a pay-per-view co-promoted by DAZN and Diaz’s Real Fight Inc.
Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn recently said on “The MMA Hour” that he sees Paul vs. Diaz as a mismatch and predicts a finish for Paul in less than four rounds. Bisping agrees with Hearn’s breakdown for the most part.
“Jake’s the bigger, more explosive guy, and that’s why he’s picked this fight, you know what I mean?” Bisping said on his “Believe You Me” podcast. “And I hope I eat my words. Of course I do. But it’s a very, very smart matchup. It’s a very smart pick.”
Bisping rates Diaz’s skills highly as a fighter but not so much as a boxer.
“In a mixed martial arts cage, in a UFC octagon, on the street, whatever, he’s not someone you want to trifle with,” Bisping said. “But you take away a lot of his skills and just rely on boxing only – he’s got good power. He wobbled Leon Edwards in that fifth round, he wobbled Conor McGregor in the second round, that’s how he got that win.
“I’m not ripping on Nate Diaz. But you never look and go, ‘He’s got blinding, lightening-fast hands.’ He could take a shot, he keeps going forward, he’s tough as nails, and he’s got great jiu-jitsu and grappling, and mixed martial arts skills. I think Eddie Hearn is right here.”
Diaz has been stopped due to strikes only twice in his MMA career – once by head-kick TKO courtesy of Josh Thomson in 2013 and the other a doctor’s stoppage TKO against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 244, where the fight was waived off due to a big gash around Diaz’s right eye.
However, Bisping doesn’t see a similar situation happening with boxing gloves.
“Yeah, but hold on a minute, with the boxing gloves and no other weapons – yes, of course, cuts can happen with boxing gloves and we see that in boxing all the time,” Bisping said. “But in MMA with the smaller gloves with the knees, with the elbows, there’s definitely a higher chance of getting cut.”
For more on the matchup, visit MMA Junkie’s hub for Paul vs. Diaz.
