It didn’t take long to see a response from Nate Diaz and Jake Paul. On Tuesday, Dana White commented on Diaz’s recent Twitter post asking to be released from the promotion and teasing a potential boxing fight with Paul.
The UFC president said the fight “makes sense” and said a fight offer would eventually come for Diaz, who’s on the last fight on his UFC contract. A few hours later, Diaz and Paul took to social media to give their two cents on White’s comments. Below are their reactions.
Ufc release now please or give me fight with anyone in July or august
I have bigger shit to do pic.twitter.com/xyYSCBysLs— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) June 21, 2022
“Dana – I’m happy to be Nate’s last fight in UFC,” Paul responded on Twitter. “You know the terms: pay fighters more and give them healthcare. Sweetener: I will fight for free.”
Dana White and Nate Diaz finally seem to agree on something.
On Monday, Diaz took to social media to once again call for the UFC to either book him on the final fight of his contract or release him. This time around, Diaz did so while teasing his interest in a potential big-money boxing match against Jake Paul.
Dana – I’m happy to be Nate’s last fight in UFC. You know the terms: pay fighters more and give them healthcare.
Sweetener: I will fight for free. https://t.co/fhj6Ig9bS2
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) June 21, 2022
When asked about Diaz’s comments on Tuesday, White echoed sentiments about the Paul matchup being a good opportunity for Diaz’s career. In doing so, the UFC president also appeared to indicate that Diaz’s time with the UFC may soon be coming to an end.
“I mean, I like Nate. Let’s be honest, Nate’s won one fight in the last five or six years,” White told TheMacLife. “You know? When these guys get into these positions, you’ve got guys that have been with us for a long time, that we respect, that we care about.
Send the release 📄
👱🏻♂️🥊
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) June 21, 2022
You know, you’ve got Cerrones and Anthony Pettis before he left, and you’ve got Nate Diaz and Nick Diaz is still under contract with us. So you want to be fair to everybody, you want to do the right things or whatever. Nate Diaz isn’t going to come in and fight Kamaru Usman.
“So listen, we’re trying to do the best we can. We’re trying not to s*** on anybody and disrespect anybody, but it’s not like we’re talking about Kamaru Usman here. We’re talking about Nate Diaz. Nate’s won one fight in five years, so we’re trying to figure this thing out with him. He probably should go on and fight Jake Paul. That’s a fight that makes sense.”
Paul is currently slated to headline an event at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden on Aug. 6 against an opponent yet to be announced. But the influencer quickly weighed in on the situation, and of course, used it to needle White.
Diaz and Paul have traded shots at various times over the past few years, with Paul outright calling for a “massive fight” to be made between the two stars this past December. However, Diaz still has to fight out his UFC contract before talks can start in earnest.
The 37-year-old Stockton native has been sidelined since a June 2021 loss to Leon Edwards despite repeatedly calling to fight a variety of contenders, most notably Dustin Poirier.
White refused to say whether the UFC is still targeting a bout on Aug. 20 between Diaz and Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 278, but he hopes to have something figured out with Diaz soon.
“Listen, contractually we’ve got to get him a fight,” White said. “We’ll get him a fight.”