Michael Bisping thinks losing to Jake Paul lit a fire under Nate Diaz.
Bisping liked what he saw out of Diaz’s return to the boxing ring this past Saturday, where he defeated Jorge Masvidal by majority decision at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Diaz picked up his first professional boxing win after getting dropped in a unanimous decision loss to Paul this past August.
“This was a different Nate Diaz,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “When you look at Nate Diaz and the way that he performed against Jake Paul, I thought it was going to be a bad night for Nate Diaz, but I was wrong. He came in motivated, in-shape, and super aggressive from the very get-go.”
Masvidal argued that he outlanded Diaz, and thinks the judges were influenced by the pro-Diaz crowd. However, Bisping says Diaz was leading the dance.
“I think he (Masvidal) landed the harder shots however, because of the output, because of the non-stop throwing, and the aggression shown by Diaz, it certainly looked to me without seeing the compu-stats that Diaz was probably just ahead in a very, very, close fight,” Bisping said.
Bisping called Diaz’s loss to Paul embarrassing, but after seeing the version of Diaz that fought Masvidal, Bisping thinks “The Problem Child” caught a break.
“Jake Paul was lucky because the Diaz that showed up against Jake Paul was not the Diaz that showed up last night for Jorge Masvidal,” Bisping said. “It just wasn’t the same guy. It wasn’t the same fighter. The attitude wasn’t the same. He was very nonchalant, he didn’t seem to care.
“He definitely underestimated the Disney boy and that’s his own fault. That’s not Jake Paul’s fault. Jake Paul takes his craft very seriously. … So, for Nate Diaz to show up and underestimate him, that’s on him. But, I think that taught Nate Diaz a lesson. I think that was a wake-up call.”
