Jake Paul bounces back from 1st loss with unanimous decision win over Nate Diaz

Jake Paul is still "The Problem Child." For older MMA fighters, at least.

The social media influencer-turned-boxer scored a unanimous decision win (97-92, 98-91, 98-91) over UFC veteran Nate Diaz on Saturday, improving his professional boxing record to 7-1 (0-1 against professional boxers).

The fight had all the hallmarks of a Jake Paul fight. Weeks of attention and worries if this is really the future of boxing. An opponent known for something other than boxing prowess. Plenty of celebrities. Noise, endless noise. Nothing to be learned, at least about Paul's future as a real boxer.

We certainly learned the same lesson about his prowess as a promoter, selling a fight against an opponent 12 years older than him with months of experience in the sport. The big draw here was that Diaz was the one who stopped another loudmouth, Conor McGregor, with his legendary submission win in 2016. Paul, and the sport of boxing, proved to be a different sort of challenge.

The fight looked nearly over in the first round, when Paul hurt Diaz and unleashed a series of blows over the next minute that put the fighter on his back foot. Diaz recovered enough to stifle the threat, but the match looked a lot like Paul's other victories, with his chosen Big MMA Name looking hesitant and slow.

Diaz started figuring out his defense in the second round, but never landed a punch that seemed to hurt Paul. Those finally started coming in the fourth, when Diaz got aggressive with a flurry of hooks that wouldn't have looked out of place in an MMA match.

Diaz started having some fun in the fifth, faking like a body blow hurt him, but Paul struck back with a knockdown and spent the rest of the round hitting Diaz like in the first round. The next few rounds were somewhat even before Diaz really seemed to do some damage in the eighth and ninth, rousing the crowd. Paul's blows seemed to stop hurting him.

The antics continued into the final round, with Diaz feigning fatigue and damage, or at least some of it. Paul, who had never fought a match longer than eight rounds, started to look gassed, while Diaz just looked amused.

The momentum belonged to Diaz at the end, as many predicted, but Paul's control in the first several rounds made for an uncontroversial decision.

"I knocked him down basically every round, and then he won one round. But he's a warrior," Paul said after the fight. "I had him hurt in the first round, he kept on coming. Nobody's taking that much damage, but all credit to my team, my conditioning. Going 10 rounds in my eighth fight, it's unheard of. Only been boxing for three years. Beating a UFC legend."

Who will Jake Paul fight next?

The answer of where Paul goes from here will rest, as always, on Paul. He suggested his next fight could be an MMA bout, having signed with the Professional Fighters League earlier this year. He appeared to offer Diaz first dibs as his opponent, but kept it wide enough for the entire MMA community.

"I want $10 million. PFL, that's the offer," Paul said. "Let's run it back in MMA. Make it fair. I won one, now it's your chance in your home territory. MMA, let's do it."

Paul also said he would be up for a rematch against Tommy Fury, who defeated him by split decision in February, denying him his first win over a person with "boxer" as the first job on their Wikipedia page. And there's always another MMA fighter of at least moderate fame looking for a payday.

Or maybe José Ramírez will be available.

Here's how the fight unfolded:

Nate Diaz vs. Jake Paul main card odds, results

• Catchweight (185 lbs): Jake Paul def. Nate Diaz by unanimous decision (97-92, 98-91, 98-91)
• Women’s featherweight championship: Amanda Serrano def. Heather Hardy by unanimous decision (99-91, 100-90, 100-90)
• Super middleweight: Chris Avila def. Jeremy Stephens by unanimous decision (59-55, 59-55, 60-54)
• Lightweight: Ashton “H2O” Sylve def. William Silva by KO at 2:59 of R4
• Women’s super middleweight: Shadasia Green def. Olivia Curry by unanimous decision (99-91, 100-90, 100-89)
• Welterweight: Alan Sanchez def. Angel Beltran by unanimous decision (77-75, 78-74, 79-73)