Nate Diaz and Jake Paul’s respective security teams clashed at a press conference for their upcoming boxing match after Diaz held back from throwing a water bottle at a Paul sympathizer who was antagonizing him.
Nate Diaz found himself in a tense situation, holding a water bottle which, for a moment, seemed like it might be hurled at a Jake Paul fan who relished the idea of him losing by knockout. Despite this, Diaz managed to keep hold of the bottle, a fact that appeared to please Paul since he is a co-promoter of their upcoming boxing match on Saturday. Diaz momentarily lost his temper, which was exactly what Paul, who had switched from being an influencer to a boxer, hoped to achieve by aggravating Diaz.
Following roughly thirty minutes of Paul’s irritating provocations, Diaz finally reacted, much to Paul’s delight. However, it was not Diaz and Paul who ended up grappling on stage during the face-off at the press conference, but their respective security teams. There was a brief scuffle before everything got broken up and Diaz later gave his thoughts on the incident during the DAZN press conference feed. Allegedly, the altercation started because of one member of Paul’s security team, who Diaz singled out due to a previous dispute. This particular individual went from pushing and shoving after the initial face-off to actually throwing punches before everyone was separated.
However, Nate Diaz took the entire episode in stride. When asked his thoughts on the matter on DAZN, he responded nonchalantly saying, “Nah, it don’t matter. Whatever happens, happens, but it usually could go better or worse, so it’s all good.” Considering his track-record with fights happening outside the cage, Diaz seemed right – nobody got seriously injured, the police were not called, nobody got arrested. Yet, he could not ignore the fact that it was Paul who was verbally trying to instigate a fight. He criticized Paul for always portraying him as the bad guy and the bully when, in reality, Paul is just as guilty.
One example Diaz cited in support of his claim is an employee of Betr, an online sportsbook in which Paul has invested, who posed as a media member and dared Diaz’s older brother, Nick Diaz, to a fight at a press conference. This employee reappeared on Thursday to apologize for his past provocations and pleaded with Diaz’s team not to beat him up. But when Diaz didn’t respond, he said, “I can’t wait to watch Jake knock you the f*** out.”
Meanwhile, Jake Paul was rather pleased with how the events unfolded, clearly stating how he loves to mess with people’s heads and stir them up. He delighted in the fact that Diaz was finally reacting to his provocations, saying, “Man, I’m deep in his head. I’m having a picnic in his head, and man, I hurt his feelings. The security teams started fighting. His security swung first, my security hit him with a check hook, and that was that. I love to get in people’s head, get them all riled up.”