Most Valuable Promotions/DAZN
Jake Paul will fight UFC legend Nate Diaz in a summer boxing showdown at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, the first event for the social media sensation after he took his first professional loss in February. The news was announced today jointly by Most Valuable Promotions, which is Paul’s promotional company, Real Fight, which is Diaz’s promotional company, and DAZN, which will distribute and co-produce the event on August 5. Diaz had recently played down the idea of fighting Paul after Paul suffered his first professional defeat to Tommy Fury in Saudi Arabia, but the now retired UFC fighter was apparently being coy amid negotiations.
The fight will be contested at 185 pounds with 10-ounce gloves, and it will be available on major cable and satellite providers globally as well as DAZN. Involved in the negotiations were MVP co-Founder Nakisa Bidarian, DAZN North American CEO Joe Markowski, Real Fight President Zach Rosenfield and American Airlines Center COO & GM Dave Brown. Paul’s most recent fight versus Fury was on ESPN+ PPV but he does not have a long term deal with a network currently so he can switch ones on an event-by-event basis.
