UFC president Dana White was impressed with Nate Diaz's performance against Jake Paul.
Diaz suffered a unanimous decision defeat to Paul in their 10-round boxing match this past weekend. Although he was hurt in the first round and knocked down in the fifth, Diaz had a more than respectable performance as he went the distance and had some promising moments.
It was also his professional boxing debut against a bigger and more experienced man in Paul and given that the likes of Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren had both previously suffered knockout defeats to the former Disney star, it's fair to say Diaz did pretty well.
That is why White was happy for the former UFC star and how he looked overall.
“For a kid pushing 40 years old fighting a guy four weight classes bigger than him in boxing and two in MMA and going the distance at his age against a 20-f*****g-something-year-old kid, so far, he’s fared the best,” White said at the Contender Series post-fight press conference. “He looked good. I’m happy for him.”
As for what's next for Diaz, the Stockton native did seem to show interest in a potential MMA rematch with Paul which would likely be under the PFL banner.
However, Diaz is not against a UFC return. He departed as a free agent on good terms and leading up to the Paul fight, stated that he would eventually compete in a UFC Octagon again as he only had good things to say about the promotion.
White reciprocated those same feelings and revealed the UFC would always be the house of the Diaz brothers.
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