Daniel Cormier has given his two cents on Jake Paul’s upcoming fight.
Coming off the first loss of his career, ‘The Problem Child’ will look to bounce back against UFC superstar Nate Diaz on August 5th. Paul is 4-0 against former UFC fighters including Tyron Woodley, Ben Askren and Anderson Silva. He’ll look to make it 5-0 when he comes across the debuting Diaz.
‘He’s Not As Good As We Originally Thought’
While Paul has (somewhat) proven himself in the ring against a mixed bag of UFC vets, YouTubers and even a basketball player, he’d fall short when pitted against Tommy Fury last February, losing by split decision.
Cormier has addressed the defeat in the lead-up to Paul’s next fight.
“When watching Jake fight against Tommy Fury, he’s not as good as we originally thought,” Cormier said on DC & RC. “Because Tommy Fury pretty much limited him to just throwing overhand rights. He didn’t have an answer for Tommy Fury, a guy that’s been boxing for as long as Fury’s been boxing. He just kept trying to hit him with the overhand right.
I respected what he was doing because he beat Anderson (Silva) in a boxing match, and what he had did to Tyron [Woodley] and those guys. So, I did think that he was really improving. But I think in watching the Tommy Fury match, it showed me how limited he still is in terms of his boxing development because when that weapon was rendered useless. He just kept going to it, and it became more and more evident that it wasn’t going to land. But, he didn’t have a plan B. He didn’t start to fight behind the jab. He didn’t start going to the body.”
Diaz’s ‘Chance’
Seeing holes in the game of Paul, DC believes that will give Diaz opportunities to shine.
“I think that is where I give Nate Diaz the chance,” Cormier continued. “Because Diaz has been boxing for a long time. Diaz has done rounds with Andre Ward. Diaz has been around the sport of boxing and fighting for a really long time.”
However, don’t get it twisted— Cormier isn’t locking in a prediction for either man just yet.
“Am I confident enough to say that Nate beats this kid? I don’t know. Because the kid does have a lot of power.”
We’ll see who wins between Diaz & Paul on August 5th.
