Jake Paul is pushing hard for an MMA fight with Nate Diaz, and it could end up on one of the next MVP MMA cards streaming on Netflix.
Paul has already brought major fights to the platform, facing Mike Tyson and Anthony Joshua, with his bout against Tyson reportedly pulling in around 125 million viewers. Now, he’s involved in promoting MVP’s first-ever MMA event, which will be headlined by Ronda Rousey’s return to combat sports against Gina Carano.
With Paul having won their boxing match back in 2023 and both sides interested, there’s real momentum building behind the idea of them meeting again – this time under MMA rules.
Rousey vs Carano expected to kick off series of MVP MMA Events on Netflix
Netflix’s involvement in sport has typically leaned towards big, headline-grabbing events. Their first was Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson in November 2024, followed by Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano 3, and the Dana White-promoted Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford.
Plans were in place for bouts involving Alvarez and Gervonta Davis under the Paul banner last year, but neither materialised. Now, Netflix is stepping into more regular boxing coverage with Tyson Fury’s return against Arslanbek Makhmudov in London this Saturday.
Bidarian sees a similar path ahead for MVP and Netflix within MMA.
“I think similar to Paul-Tyson this is our first event with Netflix in MMA,” Bidarian said. “I am confident the event will do well, depending on how well it does I’m also very confident we will do more MVP MMA events with Netflix and potentially others.
“The lane is wide open, there’s UFC and then there’s PFL at some level that’s competing with it and it’s a distant competition. Unlike boxing where you have Top Rank, Golden Boy, PBC, Matchroom, Queensberry, MVP, Misfits Pro now – on and on and on. MMA is wide open from my perspective.
Nate Diaz recently called out Jake for an MMA fight,” Bidarian noted when asked about how Paul was recovering from his injury. “Jake will likely respond by telling Nate to beat Mike Perry first before they set anything up under MVP MMA. We’ll see how that unfolds.”
Nate Diaz was considered as a Jake Paul replacement option last year
Diaz was one of the names floated around Netflix when Paul ultimately decided to fight Anthony Joshua last year after Gervonta Davis was forced out of their exhibition bout due to legal issues. That was for a boxing rematch, Bidarian reminded us, but the second fight in the cage has been brewing for years.
“If you recall, Jake talked about doing MMA against Nate Diaz for a long time in PFL,” he continued. “The numbers just couldn’t work for Nate Diaz in terms of what he wanted and what PFL wanted to do. Maybe things change.”
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