Nate Diaz said in the interview that he would ‘haunt’ Jake Paul’s life.
Jake Paul and Nate Diaz engaged in a quite frankly bizarre face-to-face interview ahead of their scheduled boxing fight this weekend – and one particular moment is going viral on social media.
After two years of trash talking, Paul and Diaz will finally go head-to-head at the American Airlines Center, Dallas on Saturday night in an eight-round, 185-pound bout.
Diaz, who will take part in his first professional boxing fight, ramped up the mind games back in May, when he temporarily walked out of their pre-fight press conference.
And earlier this week, when the pair came face-to-face in a more private setting, Diaz headed for an early exit again.
But before that, the Stockton-born fighter delivered a bold response when presenter Ariel Helwani asked if his plan was to return to the UFC after Saturday’s bout against Paul.
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Diaz said: “My plan is to fight him. If I win, I’ll talk to the UFC and see how they feel. If I lose, I’m going to haunt this mo**********’* life. That’s what fighting is.
“I’m not trying to scare you,” he went on. “I’m just saying. This is what it’s like with everyone I’ve fought. There’s no losing. You’ll have to deal with me forever. That’s the fight game.”
Paul, who struggled to process what Diaz had just said, proceeded to speak about his recent defeat to Tommy Fury.
“I mean, I just lost and made $30 million. It doesn’t feel like a loss. I’m in a bigger fight now. It’s only a loss if you let it be a loss. I learned from it. I brought in a whole new team and became a better man because of it.”
You can watch that moment at 13:00 below. Warning: strong language throughout.
Here’s how social media reacted to Diaz’s outburst.
One said: “Jake Paul looks so scared after this,” while another commented: “Hate this for Nate. He’s probably going to lose this boxing match but it’s going to turn into a real fight either immediately after or in the parking lot.”
A third wrote: “He said that so calmly almost like he didn’t want to say it but he definitely meant it.”
A fourth added: “Damn Nate talking about haunting his opponents was some real talk! Even tho it was hard to understand, I felt it! Even if he loses…down the road, who really won!?”
Image credit: YouTube/Jake Paul
Paul would later praise the former UFC fighter for his contribution to the sport of MMA.
“He’s a warrior. He’s put on some of the greatest fights in the history of MMA. He has an amazing fan base and people love him for a reason,” the YouTube personality said.
“I know he’s coming to bring a war. That’s what it says ‘ready for a f***ing war’. I think the fans are the ones who are going to win the most out of it because we both don’t want to lose or back down.”
But moments later, Diaz, who looked uncomfortable throughout, abruptly left the interview and said he would be “right back”.
He never returned.
