Anticipation is building for Saturday night’s boxing match between Jake Paul and former UFC fighter Nate Diaz at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Tension boiled over as the two sides held their pre-fight press conferences at The Factory in Deep Ellum on Thursday.
After the two fighters were presented to the crowd, the two sides turned to each other, and the boxers began barking at each other.
Diaz seemed unable to look Paul in the face, and Paul could be heard saying, “Why are you so mad, huh? Did we hurt your feelings? Did we hurt your feelings, buddy? This is between you and I…”
The trash-talking invoked reactions from the crowd, and Paul turned to them, yelling, “Little b—-. He’s a f—ing b—-! We hurt his feelings!”
The incident quickly turned physical as the teams stared each other down and even threw punches as security got involved, shoving people out of the way.
Neither fighter physically participated in the brawl, but it amplified the tension going into Friday’s weigh-in and Saturday’s match.
“All out warfare, eye for eye,” Paul wrote on Twitter on Thursday night. “You threatened MVPs co-founder who has been a partner to you and your team every step of the way? He’s put your best friend on over and over again. Stupid. Then your team wants to swing on us…so you got served a three-piece and a biscuit. Punk. It’s time for goodnight.”
Diaz is an accomplished UFC fighter with a 21-13 record and won his last match against Tony Ferguson at UFC 279 in Las Vegas last summer by submission in the fourth round.
Paul is 6-1 in his boxing career after debuting in 2020. He lost his most recent fight in a split decision against Tommy Fury in February and is out to prove himself after the setback, despite being favored to win the match.
“It motivates me to prove people wrong and to show them that I’m different,” Paul told WFAA. “You don’t see anyone who is 6-1…going 10 rounds in my eighth fight…Most fighters build up their fights with these journeymen, trash-can, taxi drivers, then go in there and knock them out until their 25th fight and then fight someone good. I’m setting a new precedent in the sport, and when there’s critics, there’s a massive upside. You want people to be talking about you.”
Diaz and Paul will be the main event on the card that starts at 8 p.m. CT on Saturday.
