Nate Diaz could avoid boxing Jake Paul after Anderson Silva fight, says Sean O'Malley

UFC bantamweight contender Sean O'Malley is one of the many fighters who've complimented Jake Paul for his improvement as a fighter. The YouTuber-turned-boxer has become one of the most polarizing figures in combat sports. This past Saturday, he kept his undefeated pro-boxing record intact after defeating former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

'The Problem Child' wasted little time setting the stage for his next bout. During his post-fight interview, he called out former UFC lightweight title challenger Nate Diaz. The two have been linked for quite some time now, and a fight seems likely to happen, especially considering Diaz's impending free agency.

O'Malley discussed the potential bout during his appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. He mentioned that he was impressed with Paul's performance against Silva:

"I always wanna see the biggest fights. Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz is the biggest fight. Jake, I think wants to be taken more serious and fight a real boxer boxer and go after a belt, but I think might as well fight Nate Diaz. And I don't know if Nate takes that fight. Nate might've seen Jake look good. It's not like Nate probably looked at him and thought, 'Ohh I could go in there and just whoop him.' So that may be a fight that Nate doesn't even really take."

Helwani then asked 'Sugar' whether he believes Diaz could defeat Paul. 'Sugar' responded that there's only one way to find out:

"I mean there's only one way to see it. If you'd asked me, 'Do you think Jake beats Anderson?' I would say the same thing there's only one way to know, they got to go out there and fight. I don't know if Jake beats Nate. What he showed versus Anderson [Silva]...there's a very good chance, so I think it would be an epic fight."

Check out the full interview here:

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What's next for Sean O'Malley?

O'Malley is coming off an impressive win of his own. He pulled off a huge upset at UFC 280 by defeating former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan via split-decision. As a result, he's now the No.1-ranked contender in the bantamweight rankings.

Moving forward, the promotion could book O'Malley against top-five bantamweight Marlon Vera in a rematch.

Also, former two-division champion Henry Cejudo is expected to return to action in 2023. So, an O'Malley-Cejudo interim bantamweight title bout could materialize given reigning champ Aljamain Sterling's tendency for long layoffs.

'Sugar' could even get a title shot against Sterling, such is the strength of a victory over Petr Yan. However, Dana White has also hinted at a potential Cejudo-Sterling bout next.