Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz results, highlights: 'The Problem Child' scores knockdown, earns decision win

Paul was the superior boxer on Saturday night as he routinely beat Diaz to the punch over 10 rounds

Nate Diaz believed that, in his professional boxing debut, if he could force Jake Paul to go 10 rounds instead of eight, it would be to his advantage. But instead, Paul (7-1, 4 KO) showed once again why MMA fighters have struggled to find their footing in the boxing ring by dominating nearly every round of the fight to score a clear unanimous decision victory on Saturday night in Dallas.

Paul's boxing was too technical for Diaz, who tried to ugly things up with a face-first style and slapping combinations. Paul had the power to counter Diaz's awkwardness, rattling him in the first round and scoring a fifth-round knockdown off a step-back left hook that sent Diaz nearly spilling through the ropes.

Diaz had moments, but Paul's power was the deciding factor and his cardio never faltered, even fighting 10 rounds for the first time in his career.

"He's tough," Paul said after the fight. "He's real tough, that's what he's known for. But tough in this sport doesn't work. ... I knocked him down, won basically every round. He's a warrior, you know. I hurt him in the first round but he kept on coming."

Diaz pulled out many of the same tricks that made him a fan favorite in his lengthy mixed martial arts career as he taunted, feigned being hurt and made the fight awkward in various ways. While those unusual tactics seemed to throw Paul off his game in the early rounds, by the 10th, Paul was ignoring them and using Diaz's behavior as an opportunity to land clean punches on an opponent who was willingly putting himself out of position.

In the end, Paul won the fight on the scorecards, with the judges turning in scores of 97-92, 98-91 and 98-91.

After the win, Paul reiterated his desire to fight Diaz in mixed martial arts, the MMA promotion Paul signed with and has equity in.

"I want to run it back in MMA," Paul said. "$10 million in PFL, that's the offer. Let's run it back in MMA. Your territory, let's do it."

Diaz was quick to accept the proposed rematch, saying his Real Fight Inc. promotion would need to be involved.

"He needed a takedown. He needed a choke. He did a good job. He's a f---ing athletic, strong dude and he hits hard and fast, but it ain't nothing I hadn't seen before, and I trained with people who were [like that]. These guys can throw down. It's good shit," Diaz said. "I should have been throwing punches, keeping him on the outside. I'm not trying to make an excuse, but about a month back I hurt my right arm, a bit. I think I should've kept to the outside and circled, and done better stuff. But it's all good. There's no way I [wouldn't] show up for a fight because of something like that. You gotta go regardless, no matter what."

Can't get enough boxing and MMA? Get the latest in the world of combat sports from two of the best in the business. Subscribe to Morning Kombat with Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell for the best analysis and in-depth news, including instant analysis of Paul vs. Diaz from Dallas at the conclusion of the PPV event.

Diaz has also expressed a desire to return to the UFC, the promotion in which he fought for from 2007 to 2022. Should Diaz pursue that route rather than taking Paul's deal to fight in PFL, it leaves Paul with an obvious potential opponent.

"Yeah, look, it's back to the drawing board," Paul said. "Tommy Fury rematch, he won by split decision, I'm trying to get that back. I'm just happy with this win, man.

"The loss was seriously the best thing. It set me on the path I was supposed to be on and you can't cut corners in this sport. I was in the gym the day after the loss. I flew back from the Middle East and went to the gym every single day up until this fight."

Fury handed Paul the first loss of his boxing career in February. Paul scored a late knockdown, but that wasn't enough to win on more than one scorecard at the time. A potential rematch has been discussed but Fury is currently set to face another influencer-turned-boxer in KSI on Oct. 14.

The undercard saw a mixed bag of results with four of the five fights reaching the judges' scorecard. Undisputed women's featherweight champion Amanda Serrano battered Heather Hardy en route to a unanimous decision in a rematch of their 2019 showdown. One of Diaz's training partners, Chris Avila, also took home a unanimous decision in a six-round contest over former UFC fighter Jeremy Stephens. The lone finish came from 19-year-old prospect Ashton Sylve as he landed a beautiful body shot that sent William Silva straight to the canvas in Round 4. 

CBS Sports was with you throughout the entire way on Saturday with the live results and highlights below. 

Fight card, results

• Jake Paul def. Nate Diaz via unanimous decision (97-92, 98-91, 98-91)
• Amanda Serrano (c) def. Heather Hardy via unanimous decision (99-91, 100-90, 100-90)
  
• Chris Avila def. Jeremy Stephens via unanimous decision (59-55, 59-55, 60-54)
  
• Ashton Sylve def. William Silva via KO, Round 4
  
• Shadasia Green def. Olivia Curry via unanimous decision (99-91, 100-90, 100-89)
• Alan Sanchez def. Angel Beltran via unanimous decision (77-75, 78-74, 79-73)
  

Paul vs. Diaz scorecard, live coverage

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
Paul	10	10	10	9	10	10	10	9	10	10	98
Diaz	9	9	9	10	8	9	9	10	9	9	91

[Aug 6, 2023 at 1:09 am ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Official result: Jake Paul def. Nate Diaz via unanimous decision (97-92, 98-91, 98-91)

[Aug 6, 2023 at 1:06 am ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz -- Round 10: Paul circled and Diaz taunted by walking to the ropes and looking outside the ring, which allowed Paul to stick him with two clean punches. Paul landed another left hook and then a three-punch combination. Diaz again looked outside the ring and again Paul responded by tagging him with punches. Diaz tried to turn it up in the final minute, throwing a series of punches. Paul stuck Diaz with a series of jabs. Paul landed a big uppercut late in the round and Diaz grabbed his head and feigned going for a guillotine choke. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Paul (98-91)

[Aug 6, 2023 at 1:02 am ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz -- Round 9: Paul landed a right hand and Diaz taunted by pretending to be hurt. Paul then hit him with a right uppercut and left hook. Paul landed a nice three-punch combo and then dug to the body. Paul again went to the right hand and back to the body. Paul landed a right hand and a left to the body. Paul landed another left hook as Diaz struggled to get much done in the first two minutes of the round. Diaz tried to land a sweeping shot but didn't connect cleanly. Diaz finally threw a few punches that connected but Paul landed a right hand and a left. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Paul (88-82)

[Aug 6, 2023 at 12:58 am ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz -- Round 8: Paul threw a few short body shots inside and then stepped back to land a right straight and a hook. Paul continued to circle and left Diaz come to him. Diaz landed a few punches on the inside. Uapl connected with an uppercut and a hook before Diaz threw a short, slapping shot. A Paul right hand landed clean to the chin but Diaz charged forward. Diaz landed a good uppercut inside, trying to push the pace now. Diaz with a nice combination inside. Diaz connected with a good right hand late. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Diaz (78-73 Paul)

[Aug 6, 2023 at 12:54 am ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz -- Round 7: Paul split Diaz's guard with a straight right hand. Paul landed a chopping left as Diaz pushed in. Pual stuck to the outside, allowing Diaz to come to him and eat shots. Paul landed another clean left hand. Diaz was doing a lot of chasing in the round, not getting the chance to let his hands go much. Diaz landed a couple of punches before eating more left hooks from Pual. A bit Paul uppercut was responded to with an uppercut from Diaz. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Paul (69-63)

[Aug 6, 2023 at 12:50 am ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz -- Round 6: Paul landed a thudding jab followed by a right hand. Paul tagged him with another right and a left hook. Diaz threw a three-punch combo but didn't really land much. Paul landed a few left hooks as Diaz walked forward. Diaz got inside and landed a good uppercut in the midst of a flurry. Paul hooked to the body and went back up top with the jab. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Paul (59-54)

[Aug 6, 2023 at 12:46 am ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz -- Round 5: Paul landed a few straight shots then landed a body shot that Diaz feigned being hurt by. Paul landed a good uppercut as Diaz ducked down. A Paul hook landed well. A left hook from Paul sent Diaz stumbling to the canvas! Diaz beat the count. Paul landed a big uppercut and continued to flurry. Paul slowed down rather than unloading the gas tank. Paul threw a hard right to the body. Diaz started to fire back late but ate a left hook. Unofficial scorecard: 10-8 Paul (49-45)

[Aug 6, 2023 at 12:42 am ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz -- Round 4: Uppercut for Paul is followed with a few left hands and a right. Paul again landed a right, though Diaz shook his head. Paul landed a pair of stiff jabs. Paul again landed a hook. Diaz continued trying to bull forward and let his hands go but very little of his work is effective. Diaz finally got inside and landed a few shots capped off by a clean left hand. Paul landed another good hook Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Diaz (39-37 Paul)

[Aug 6, 2023 at 12:38 am ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz -- Round 3: Paul landed a short uppercut as Diaz tried to charge forward and then landed another moments later. Paul wrapped a left hook around the gourd. That left landed two more times before Diaz tried to bull forward. Paul landed a very big left hook that Diaz ate well. Diaz tried to just pepper with small shots but Paul continued to land the cleaner power with regularity. Paul started to go downstairs again, leading Diaz to try to flurry but the lack of power is not troubling Paul. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Paul (30-27)

[Aug 6, 2023 at 12:34 am ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz -- Round 2: Paul landed a right hand to the body in the opening seconds. Diaz missed with a few slapping punches. Another lead left hand landed for Paul. Diaz did manage to land a few punches on the inside. Diaz walked around and taunted a bit but did connect with a left hand. Paul stuck in a good jab. Paul again dug in with body shots snd then landed a series of right hands. Diaz did manage to get off more punches after but again got ripped to the body. Diaz flurried a bit at the end of the round. Unofficial scorecards: 10-9 Paul (20-18)

[Aug 6, 2023 at 12:30 am ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz -- Round 1: Diaz pawed with a few jabs early before Paul threw a jab and body shot. Paul missed with a left hook. Paul landed a big left hand and Diaz seemed bothered d. Paul landed a big flurry, sending Diaz reeling. Diaz tried to hold on but Paul continued to pour on clean shots before a body shot. Palul landed a clean right and a wobbly Diaz held on. Diaz seemed to compose himself a bit and tried to throw a few straight shots. Paul landed a left hand Diaz did manage to land a short uppercut. Diaz missed with a few late punches. Dominance from Paul there. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Paul

[Aug 6, 2023 at 12:24 am ET · Brent Brookhouse]

The ring walks are done. The fighter introductions are done. The referee has delivered his final instructions. It's time to get down to the punching.

[Aug 6, 2023 at 12:18 am ET · Brent Brookhouse]

The ring walks have started for Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz.