"The ball is in Dana's court" - Jake Paul reveals truth behind rumors of Nate Diaz 'UFC release' and fight

Jake Paul keeps coming up whenever anyone talks about Nate Diaz's post-UFC career, and now 'The Problem Child' is sharing his thoughts on fighting the younger Diaz brother.

Diaz recently teased a fight with Paul by sharing a video of Paul knocking Tyron Woodley out, along with a message demanding his release because he "got bigger s*** to do." Jake Paul responded to that by offering to fight Diaz in the UFC for free if the promotion raised its minimum wage.

On the latest episode of The MMA Hour, Ariel Helwani asked if there was any discussions with the UFC following that offer. Paul replied:

"There wasn't. The ball's in Dana White's court. I've said I'd fight Nate Diaz in the UFC for free. All Dana has to do is raise the fighter minimum from $12,000 to $50,000 and give the fighters long term health care. Then I'll fight Nate Diaz for free as his last fight on his UFC contract."

"Made that offer to no avail and that's that, that's really where things stand. I think that fight could happen eventually once he gets out of his UFC contract. I'd love to box him. Nate wants that to happen. But obviously Dana White is in control of all these guys and won't let him out of his contract."

Watch Jake Paul's interview on The MMA Hour below:

While a Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz fight in the UFC may never happen, it's looking very likely that Paul and Diaz could box after Diaz finishes his contract.

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Nate Diaz may be free to fight Jake Paul soon with a UFC fight reportedly agreed to

Nate Diaz only has one fight left on his current UFC deal, and has been sitting on the sidelines since June 2021 waiting for a bout agreement. According to Chael Sonnen, a fight may finally have come together. In a recent YouTube video, Sonnen said:

"I got a little inside scoop for you guys which is, Diaz has accepted a fight. Diaz has a fight coming up. I gotta stop right there. I don't know who the opponent is though."

The big speculation is that the UFC has finally managed to sign a fight between Nate Diaz and Khamzat Chimaev. Diaz turned down the fight in December 2021 before Chimaev fought Gilbert Burns, but reportedly accepted it after Chimaev jumped up in the welterweight rankings to No. 3. He claimed Chimaev was the one who couldn't fight then.

There's other possibilities as well. Top welterweights currently available include Jorge Masvidal, Colby Covington, and Gilbert Burns.