Nate Diaz ‘looked like he was dying’ in training for Jake Paul fight, sparring partner says

Esquiva Falcao lifted the lid on a session with the UFC icon, who is set to box Paul in August

An ‘overweight’ Nate Diaz apparently struggled through 12 rounds of boxing training this week, as the UFC icon continued his preparation for a fight with Jake Paul in August.

Diaz, 38, will face the YouTuber, 26, in Dallas this summer, as the mixed martial arts star makes his professional boxing debut.

The fight will take place 11 months after Diaz rounded out his UFC stint with a submission win against Tony Ferguson. Paul, meanwhile, last fought in February, taking on Tommy Fury and suffering the first loss of a pro boxing career in which he has gone 6-1 – with wins against ex-UFC champions Tyron Woodley and Anderson Silva, among others.

Esquiva Falcao sparred with Diaz on Thursday (15 June), filming an interaction between the pair in the aftermath of their training session, before turning to the camera to say: “At first I thought he was tired, and in the end it looked like he was dying.

“His fighting style is crazy. You look at him and say, ‘Oh, he’s tired,’ and then we started sparring. Robert [Garcia, coach] told me in the second round, ‘He’s tired already, hold back a little bit and keep the rhythm so he does at least 10 rounds.’

“I held back and kept boxing, and we did 12 rounds. He was tired but taking punches and throwing, too. [He] is bad, [he] is bad, but since he’s too heavy – he’s overweight, probably around 220lbs or more – and I’m the only big guy in the gym, I had to do it. But I liked doing it.”

Diaz and Paul were originally due for an eight-round contest, but the Americans will now fight for a maximum of 10 rounds, Paul said this week. That is the result of a request by Diaz, according to the YouTube star.

As well as holding wins against Woodley (one on points and one via knockout) and Silva, Paul has knocked out ex-MMA champion Ben Askren, who finished his mixed martial arts career with a spell in the UFC.

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