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Why Jake Paul chose Dallas as location for Nate Diaz fight in August

Read exclusive comments Paul made to DMN following Tuesday’s pre-fight press conference.

There were verbal jabs, fashionably late arrivals and a clapping monkey.

What else can one expect from a press conference for one of the year’s most highly-anticipated fights?

Jake Paul and Nate Diaz came face to face at American Airlines Center on Tuesday afternoon, hyping their Aug. 5 fight in Dallas.

More than 20,000 people pre-registered for access to buy tickets to the fight this summer, and tickets officially go on sale Thursday at noon. Amanda Serrano defending her crown as the undisputed featherweight champion in a rematch against Heather Hardy will serve as the card’s co-main event.

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UFC 277 filled 19,442 seats at a sold-out AAC last July.

During the press conference, Paul spoke about his personal growth as a person and a fighter since his loss to Tommy Fury, while also including sophomoric use of props and planting one of his team members in the media to make NSFW comments toward both Diaz and his older brother, Nick.

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Diaz, who arrived roughly a half hour after the event’s scheduled start time, spoke of shedding the stereotype of MMA fighters being unable to translate their skills to the boxing world — he also avoided answering questions about his recent legal issues in the city of New Orleans.

Paul, boxing’s “Problem Child,” spoke exclusively to The Dallas Morning News following Tuesday’s press conference. Here are some highlights from the conversation, edited for clarity:

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Instead of landing at MSG in New York, landing in Vegas, the fight is in Dallas. How did that come about getting the flight here? What does it mean to have a fight here to you?

Paul: “I’ve always wanted to fight here, and we’ve always looked at different options to fight here. But I love Texas. I have a lot of fans here. Nate has a lot of fans here. And it’s a big fight state, right? You know, like everyone, it’s a true American fight state. And this is a real, massive U.S. event with big American fan bases. And there’s no better place in my mind to do it than Texas.”

With the giant pre-registration numbers, is it sort of an expected sell out at AAC?

Paul: “It’s definitely gonna sell out. No question. It just crazy ... the amount of pre-signups we got is unprecedented. Bigger than any event I’ve done before.”

Was that number of surprise? Or was was that more or less expected that that number would be that big?

Paul: “It was expected, but I was surprised at the same time. So it just, you know, confirms our belief that this is going to be the biggest fight of the year.”

Did anything Nate do Tuesday surprise you? In his post-conference group media session, he was asked about your guy in the crowd and the comments about his brother, and he called sort of your antics today amateur and that he’s the professional fighter. And yet he’s the one who walked off the stage in the middle of the press conference. What’s your response to what went down?

Paul: “I don’t think he really knows what’s going on. And I didn’t think that he was acting professional, I couldn’t understand him, he had marbles in his mouth, and he didn’t really have anything to say. But then goes on Twitter, and says and talks a bunch of s---. So to me, for him being this tough guy that all these people are afraid of, I was kind of let down by him. I wanted more smoke. I wanted more action. But I didn’t get that from him.”

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You’re coming off the loss to Tommy. He’s jumping out of the UFC waters into a whole new ocean. There’s plenty to gain for both of you guys. But on Aug. 5, who stands to have more to lose?

Paul: “That’s tough to say, I guess. But there’s definitely — both of us have a lot on the line. And I think that’s what’s going to make this an interesting fight and a war because neither one of us are going to back down, even after getting popped. So we’ll see, but I’m excited to go in there and prove a lot of people wrong and get back on a winning path.”

And you mentioned Tommy and Conor McGregor and Paul-Diaz II has a nice ring to it — does it matter to you what the order is, or just whatever comes next? Next fight, next man up, what are the plans?

Paul: “Yeah, we’ll see man, we’ll see and just take it as it comes. But I’m just getting better and better. And continuing to work on myself in this sport and continuing to get more and more experience under my belt and I’m down to fight all these guys.”

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With your sort of influence — not just in your personal boxing career, but your efforts to lift up the entire sport of boxing — was there a sort of inspirational figure for all this, in business, in sports or both that sort of set you on this path?

Paul: “Yeah, I draw a lot of inspiration from many different areas, but I’ve always liked how like Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, even Ashton Kutcher have done business and expanded themselves outside of just being an entertainer. And then, you know, there’s people who have done a lot of things for the sport over the years. But I wanted to take all of those things and build on them and continue to make this a bigger sport, helping women’s boxing. So yeah, man, I’m excited and feel like I’ve already done a lot in the short amount of time I’ve been involved in the sport.”

Obviously, the focus is on boxing, but as you mentioned in the press conference, you are still signed to PFL (Professional Fighters League). Are there any sort of close range plans for that? Or is that still kind of off in the distance at the moment?

Paul: “Yes, it’s off in the distance, for sure. Focused on Aug. 5. And would be down to fight Nate in MMA after this, and the PFL. So, we’ll see what ends up happening.”

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If Nate didn’t want to box, was trying to make it happen in MMA part of the variables in making this fight happen? Or was boxing always the focus?

Paul: “Yeah, no, always wanted to do boxing. And I think he feels his loyalty is to the UFC. But the PFL is just a better place for fighters to be. We’re, you know, giving fighters 50% of the revenue, something that he’s never experienced in the UFC. And so while he says he’s gonna go [back to UFC], I think after this fight, he might reconsider based off of it being a better place and a better home for him to be at PFL.”

We saw you in Dallas at WrestleMania 38, watching your brother, Logan. Saw you get involved at Clash at the Castle in the UK. Is Jake Paul, WWE superstar, in any plans in the future?

Paul: “Potentially, [laughs] we’ll see. I’m focused on my boxing career for now. But I think it’s definitely something that I would like to do after that.”

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