Nate Diaz demands dramatic rule change for boxing fight with Jake Paul
Former UFC title contender Diaz will make his boxing debut against Paul this August, and has demanded that the pair make a few changes for their upcoming bout
Nate Diaz has told Jake Paul he wants their August fight to be held over 12 rounds.
The legendary UFC star finally left MMA's top promotion last year after stopping Tony Ferguson in the final bout of his 15-year career as a fan favourite. He courted offers from around combat sport as one of the most sought-after free agents in recent years before settling on a grudge fight with Paul, which will take place in Dallas on August 5.
However, Diaz now is asking for new rules, declaring that he believes Paul to be using enough steroids to warrant a 12-round bout between the pair. Paul and Diaz have agreed to fight over eight rounds at 185lb, which would be far and away a career-heaviest for the former UFC fighter, who competed as low as 155lb during his MMA prime.
READ MORE: Salt Papi ranks Jake Paul over KSI in influencer boxing ratings as star eyes fightREAD MORE: KSI offers to triple Whindersson's purse to exit tournament for YouTube fight"12 rounds," Diaz said in a cryptic tweet believed to be directed at Paul last night. "Ur [sic] on steroids so let’s put that s*** to work." Paul has regularly denied allegations that he is using any sort of performance enhancing drugs, and has passed every test that has been administered throughout his career including extensive VADA testing for his last bout with Tommy Fury.
“Steroid test me whenever the f*** you want,” Paul infamously told UFC boss Dana White last year amid the pair's bitter feud. “I don’t do steroids. I take it as a compliment. Because there’s no other excuse to me knocking out all of your champions other than ‘this kid does steroids’.”
Paul and Diaz will go head to head for the first time since agreeing to their fight next Monday at a press conference in Dallas. This is despite fears that the bout would be cancelled due to a recent incident that saw police in New Orleans put out a warrant for the fighter's arrest last weekend.
But Diaz is now free to travel after being granted bond when he turned himself into police earlier this week. “Bond has been granted and posted with the full permission from the court to resume travel which includes returning to Stockton today," his spokesman Zach Rosenfield said. "We appreciate how we were treated by the New Orleans Police Department, the court and their staff.”
Karen A Boudrie, a spokesperson for the New Orleans Police Department, confirmed a warrant had been issued for Diaz's arrest last week as she told MMA Fighting : “There has been an arrest warrant issued — he is not in custody." Rosenfield then said that his attorney has been in touch with authorities in New Orleans.
“Nate’s attorney Walter Becker can confirm that Nate has received word of the arrest warrant and Becker has been in contact with court authorities in New Orleans,” Rosenfield said in a statement issued to multiple media outlets yesterday evening.
“Nate’s attorney looks forward to presenting all of the facts about this incident to the District Attorney which clearly demonstrate that a trained fighter named Rodney Petersen aggressively pursued Nate with the intention of engaging him and once doing so, Nate acted entirely in self-defense. No further comment will be made at this time.”
