# Nate Diaz Tells Jake Paul to 'Pull Up' After Fresh MMA Callout Amid Ongoing Cross-Code Feud

**By Rosa Delgado**  \nPublished August 12, 2026  \nUpdated September 9, 2026

> The war of words between Nate Diaz and Jake Paul reignited on the press conference stage, featuring a direct MMA challenge, a team brawl, and lingering bad blood across combat sports.

The animosity between Nate Diaz and Jake Paul continues to simmer far beyond the boxing ring, reignited most recently when Diaz told Paul to pull up following a fresh mixed martial arts callout. What began as a standard promotional media appearance quickly deteriorated into verbal sparring, physical chest-thumping, and an eventual mass brawl between their respective camps.

During a promotional press conference ahead of their boxing encounter, the dynamic between the two fighters took a volatile turn. Paul wasted no time casting himself as the aggressor against a historically tight-lipped Diaz, labeling him a bully and declaring, This little kid you guys love is going to be dead on Saturday night, I'm going to end his career. When moderator Ariel Helwani pressed Diaz on whether he viewed Paul as a legitimate fighter, the Stockton veteran offered a characteristic dismissal: Ne, neví, jak ubránit škrcení, pointing out Paul's lack of grappling defense before issuing a direct challenge of his own regarding a potential transition to a cage.

Paul seized the moment to reintroduce a lucrative offer to cross codes, claiming he had tabled a 10 million dollar proposal for a mixed martial arts bout that Diaz had yet to accept. Až tě rozsekám v boxu, tak jdu do MMA a rozsekám tě tam ještě víc, uškrtím tě. Přijmi tu nabídku, srabe! Paul shouted across the stage. Diaz, refusing to take the bait on the financial specifics, signaled that his time in combat sports is far from over, leaving the door wide open for a future return to the UFC or an eventual venture into the PFL-backed ecosystem cultivated by Most Valuable Promotions.

The tension escalated from verbal jousting into physical confrontation when members of Paul's entourage and Diaz's team clashed near the conclusion of the event. While the final staredown remained relatively controlled, an errant shove from a security guard sparked a chaotic melee backstage that required rapid intervention to separate the camps.

For Diaz, the public posturing comes on the heels of a brutal 10-minute battering at the hands of Mike Perry—a TKO loss that left him with 15 surgical staples, 20 total stitches across a heavily lacerated face, and a mandated medical suspension keeping him sidelined from active competition. Yet, true to form, Diaz has expressed little interest in hanging up his gloves, immediately angling for redemption and refusing to back down from Paul's persistent cross-over overtures.

As Paul works his way back from a severe broken jaw sustained during his sixth-round knockout defeat to Anthony Joshua, his ambitions in mixed martial arts remain loud. Whether an actual meeting inside a cage materializes over the next year or two depends entirely on promotional alignment, medical clearances, and whether Diaz is willing to step into Paul's preferred hybrid rules. For now, the message from Stockton is unmistakable: if the YouTuber-turned-boxer truly wants to test his skills in MMA, he is more than welcome to pull up.

## Sources

- [fights.cz](https://www.fights.cz/zahranici/tiskovka-pred-zapasem-diaz-vs-paul-youtuber-se-snazil-nathana-vyprovokovat-nakonec-se-do-sebe-pustily-jejich-tymy-562151) — original
- [mmamag.cz](https://www.mmamag.cz/nate-diaz-poprve-promluvil-po-drtive-porazce-chce-odvetu/) — original
- [mmafighting.com](https://www.mmafighting.com/boxing/499610/jake-paul-still-chasing-nate-diaz-fight-in-mma-open-to-floyd-mayweather-next-in-boxing-he-needs-the-money) — original