Jake Paul has lined up former UFC man Nate Diaz as his next opponent following his split-decision loss to Tommy Fury.

The former social media personality will face the MMA veteran in an eight-round cruiserweight bout at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on August 5.

Paul, who lost his previously unbeaten status against Fury in Saudi Arabia earlier this year, stands at a 6-1 record with four knockouts.

Diaz, who famously inflicted Conor McGregor to a first loss during his UFC days, is a 21-time winner in MMA but will make his professional boxing debut in Texas.

The pair's fight comes amid an escalating war of words between the two over recent months, and will see Paul sidestep a potential bout with fellow media personality-turned-boxer KSI.

The Briton previously defeated the American's brother Logan in his only professional fight in 2019, but Paul says he desires to test himself further after defeat to Fury.

"My last fight didn't end the way I wanted, but the result was the best thing that could have happened to my professional boxing aspirations," Paul said in a statement.

"Now, the world thinks I am vulnerable, when all I am is more focused than ever. My team wanted me to take an easy fight like KSI next, but that's not how I am built.

"Nate Diaz is considered one of the most bad-ass fighters of all time, but he and his team have been running their mouths for too long."

Diaz likewise threw down the gauntlet, adding: "I'm the king of combat sports. I f***** up Conor for acting out and now here I am again, like a superhero."

Jake Paul is making a move to mixed martial arts after signing a potentially highly lucrative deal with the Professional Fighters League.

Social media influencer Paul is 6-0, with four knockouts, in his professional boxing career, having beaten former UFC champions such as Tyron Woodley and Anderson Silva.

However, he is making a switch to mixed martial arts with the PFL, which describes itself as a 'fighters-first' organisation.

Paul has been an outspoken critic of the UFC and its president Dana White over fighters' pay, and the PFL's new 'Super Fight' division will allow fighters to take 50 per cent of the pay-per-view revenue.

The American has also been given a role with the company as head of fighter advocacy, promoting the league and attracting new talent.

In a statement, Paul said: "I've proven myself in and out of the boxing ring and now I am going to do the same in MMA, and there is no limit to the positive impact I can make on the sport.

"I plan to enter the PFL SmartCage and once again show the world that anything is possible with hard work and dedication."

It is unclear when Paul's first PFL fight will be, but one possible opponent is Nate Diaz, with the UFC great a free agent after his contract with White's company expired.

Paul hopes to face Diaz twice, first in a boxing match and then in a mixed martial arts bout.

"I've already disrupted boxing, and now it's time to disrupt MMA," Paul said.

"I'm so dedicated to this that I offered Nate Diaz a two-fight deal: first, we box, then six months later we fight MMA in the PFL SmartCage and lay it all on the line. Let's make it happen."

Jake Paul called out Nate Diaz for his next fight after downing his "idol" Anderson Silva on Saturday.

Paul extended to 6-0 with a third victory against MMA competitors, defeating former middleweight champion Silva in a boxing contest on a unanimous decision at Desert Diamond Arena.

Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren are the other two UFC fighters to fall to Paul, who labelled UFC legend Silva as his hero after a memorable performance that saw him knock down the Brazilian in the eighth round.

"I feel like I'm living in a movie," Paul said after the victory. "You couldn't have written this in a story.

"Just being in the ring with him, seeing his heart, his courage, his bravery, that's the champion that I looked up to.

"He's such an inspiration. He was my idol growing up. He inspired me to be great."

Silva defeated former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., after leaving UFC in 2020, and proved a much tougher task for Paul, who indicated already who he wants his next fight to be.

Diaz, in attendance supporting undercard fighter and team-mate Chris Avila, appeared to slap a member of Paul's team after a backstage altercation saw both camps throw drinks.

Now, Paul wants to face Diaz, who became a free agent after UFC 279, as he looks to extend his growing record.

"Nate Diaz, stop being a b**** and fight me," Paul added. "Everyone wants that fight – Nate, stop fighting people for free, let's do it in the ring."

Nate Diaz has delivered a perfect finale after defeating Tony Ferguson by submission with a guillotine choke in the fourth round in their welterweight bout at UFC 279 on Saturday.

Diaz, 37, closed out his UFC contract with Ferguson tapping out at the 2:52 mark of the fourth round in an entertaining and also bizarre fight in Las Vegas.

During the third round, Diaz appeared unwilling to engage and turned his back to his opponent, shaking his head while walking around the cage.

That was after a tight first two rounds, before Ferguson had beaten up Diaz's leg by kicks, but the Californian would resume hostilities, landing several blows in the lead-up to the decisive fourth round.

Diaz had trapped Ferguson against the fence, with the latter escaping. But Diaz dropped Ferguson to the canvas when he came forward next, securing the submission.

The win ends Diaz's association with the UFC for now at 22-13, having been in the promotion since 2007.

"At the end of the day I love the UFC," he said inside the octagon after the bout. "I feel like I've had the longest career in the UFC, and I've had the most successful one."

There has been speculation about Diaz's next move, with a potential trilogy fight with Conor McGregor. Diaz offered an insight into his plans, while taking a pot shot at McGregor.

"I want to get out of the UFC for a minute and show al these UFC fighters how to take over and own up another sport how you're supposed to do it because Conor McGregor didn’t know how to do it," he said. "None of these other fighters know how to do it.

"I'm going to go out there and take over another profession and become the best at that. Show everybody I'm the best at that. Then I'm going to be back here to get another UFC title."

Meanwhile, Diaz's original opponent Khamzat Chimaev defeated Kevin Holland by submission in the first round with a d'Arce choke.

Chimaev forced a late shuffling of the cards after missing weight by 7.5 pounds, but made light work of Holland who submitted at 2:13 in the opening round.

Daniel Rodriguez defeated Li Jingliang by split decision while Irene Aldana landed an upkick from her back to beat Macy Chiasson by TKO.

Conor McGregor is confident he will get his trilogy fight against Nate Diaz as he congratulated his old rival on reaching the end of his UFC contract.

Diaz is set to enter free agency after Saturday's UFC 279, where he is now to face Tony Ferguson following a late change.

The American has been fighting exclusively in the UFC since 2007, with the highlight of his career a pair of bouts against McGregor, which the pair split.

Diaz dealt McGregor his first UFC defeat in March 2016, before the Irishman gained revenge via a majority decision in August of the same year.

There has long been talk of the possibility of a third fight between the pair, and Diaz this week told Inside Fighting it is "for sure going to happen at some point".

McGregor appears to be of the same belief, posting on Twitter: "Congrats Nate Diaz on making it to the end of his contractual obligations with the UFC, and as a bona fide superstar goer.

"An incredible feat. Fair play. Our trilogy will happen."

Diaz is facing Ferguson this weekend after original opponent Khamzat Chimaev's failure to make weight prompted a late shake-up at UFC 279.

Chimaev will instead face Kevin Holland, leaving Li Jingliang – Ferguson's planned opponent at 170lbs – the task of taking on Daniel Rodriguez, who is Holland's opponent at 180lbs.

McGregor also weighed in on this drama, writing: "My opinion is they should have pulled Khamzat from the card entirely.

"Reconfiguring bouts, and with a more favourable bout for the failed cutter, will only make many others in the game follow suit. The smirks on the scale were enough for me. Pull from the card and starve."

One of the most chaotic lead-ups to a UFC pay-per-view card culminated with the three top-billed fights all swapping opponents, with Nate Diaz now facing Tony Ferguson in the main event of UFC 279 on Saturday night.

UFC president Dana White already had called it an unprecedented situation when he was forced to cancel the traditional fighters' press conference on Thursday due to an uncontrollable brawl backstage between multiple fighters and their entourages, before further shenanigans took place at the weigh-ins.

Needing to weigh within one pound of the 170lbs welterweight limit, Khamzat Chimaev – in his first main event – came in at a staggering 178.5lbs, missing weight by seven-and-a-half pounds. 

While fighters are given an extra hour to try and shed the extra weight – usually one or two pounds at the most – Chimaev was so far away that there was no point, all but cancelling his fight against Diaz as he refused to concede the massive advantage to his already favoured opponent.

While a few pounds may not seem like it would decide an outcome, competitors who have missed weight have been known to thrive on fight night due to the fact they did not have to drain themselves all the way down to the required number. 

It raises questions about the validity of cutting weight at all, with other promotions such as top Asian brand ONE Championship outright banning the practice by forcing fighters to pass hydration tests in the lead up to the fight to ensure they are not dangerously dehydrated in the effort to shed the last few pounds.

With the main event off, the call was made to Ferguson to step in on short notice, having been booked in the co-main event against Li Jingliang.

With Ferguson making the weight at 170lbs and accepting the bump up to the main event – and almost certainly a significant pay increase to save the card – it left Li without a fight.

So, with Chimaev still willing to fight at a higher weight, he will now face Kevin Holland, with those two said to be at the centre of the backstage scuffle that ended the press conference. Holland had been preparing for a catchweight bout at 180lbs against Daniel Rodriguez, so he will not be outweighed by Chimaev when they contest the new co-main event.

That left Li and Rodriguez as the two remaining fighters to match up, but the problem is that Li had weighed in at 170, and Rodriguez came in at 180. In an Instagram post, Li said it is "no problem", and accepted the extremely tough upgraded opponent.

UFC 279's scheduled main event between Nate Diaz and Khamzat Chimaev is in doubt after the latter missed weight by 7.5 pounds on the eve of the fight.

Chimaev and Diaz are scheduled to go toe-to-toe on Saturday in Las Vegas but that bout is in jeopardy after the Swedish fighter hit the scales at 178.5 pounds, above the non-title welterweight limit of 171 pounds – which Diaz weighed at.

Further complicating the matter is the fact 37-year-old Diaz will become a free agent following the weekend, with Saturday's fight scheduled as his last with UFC, and it is unknown what would happen with his contract if the fight was cancelled.

It continues a week that has been far from what UFC planned, with Thursday's press conference having been cancelled after Chimaev got into a skirmish with Kevin Holland, who is due to face Daniel Rodriguez on the card.

Co-main event fighters Tony Ferguson and Li Jingliang both made weight for their bout, with Holland and Rodriguez also meeting weight.

With the main card featuring four fights outside of Chimaev v Diaz, the show could go ahead without the main event, though Ferguson has been touted to fight Diaz instead.

A further eight bouts are scheduled on the early preliminary card and the preliminary card.

UFC 279's scheduled main event between Nate Diaz and Khamzat Chimaev is in doubt after the latter missed weight by 7.5 pounds on the eve of the fight.

Chimaev and Diaz are scheduled to go toe-to-toe on Saturday in Las Vegas but that bout is in jeopardy after the Swedish fighter hit the scales at 178.5 pounds, above the non-title welterweight limit of 171 pounds – which Diaz weighed at.

Further complicating the matter is the fact 37-year-old Diaz will become a free agent following the weekend, with Saturday's fight scheduled as his last with UFC, and it is unknown what would happen with his contract if the fight was cancelled.

It continues a week that has been far from what UFC planned, with Thursday's press conference having been cancelled after Chimaev got into a skirmish with Kevin Holland, who is due to face Daniel Rodriguez on the card.

Co-main event fighters Tony Ferguson and Li Jingliang both made weight for their bout, with Holland and Rodriguez also meeting weight.

With the main card featuring four fights outside of Chimaev v Diaz, the show could go ahead without the main event, though Ferguson has been touted to fight Diaz instead.

A further eight bouts are scheduled on the early preliminary card and the preliminary card.

The UFC's traditional pre-pay per view press conference was unexpectedly cut short on Thursday, with president Dana White telling the media he has never seen anything like the fight which broke out backstage.

It is being reported by Ariel Helwani that while fighters were waiting backstage before being brought out, welterweight fighters Kevin Holland and Khamzat Chimaev exchanged words, before things turned physical with their entourages getting involved.

Helwani also reported that Nate Diaz – Chimaev's opponent this weekend – and his crew got involved after things kicked off, describing it as "total chaos".

Addressing the media before word had spread about the incident, White said "this has never happened in the history of this company", before adding "for everybody's safety, this is the right decision".

In an interview after the dust had settled, White offered some more insight into the severity of the situation.

"22 years I've been doing this – we've never had an incident like today," he said.

"All hell broke loose out here… we stopped it, but we didn't do a good job of not letting it happen.

"It's never happened before, and we'll be ready for it next time."

Journalist Helen Yee added that White claimed the camps travelling with Chimaev and Diaz consisted of at least 100 people, rendering their limited security helpless.

Jake Paul expressed his desire to get in the ring with either Jorge Masvidal or Nate Diaz after an emphatic knockout victory against Tyron Woodley on Saturday.

The Youtuber-turned-boxer had been due to fight Tommy Fury - brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury - but the former Love Island star pulled out citing a chest infection and broken ribs, with Woodley stepping in at short notice for a rematch after Paul had won via split-decision in their first contest earlier this year.

After a bloodied Paul floored former UFC champion Woodley with an overhand right in the sixth round in Florida, he criticised Fury before exclaiming that he wants to take on more UFC figures in the boxing ring next, naming Masvidal and Diaz, who had been in attendance.

"This is as real as it gets, just like my right hand. I told you, I was going to f*** him up and I f***** him up," Paul said following the bout.

"[Woodley] is a legend and I respect him for taking the fight on two weeks' notice. Tommy Fury is a b**** for pulling out of the fight.

"It was a tough fight. I had blood in my eyes. I had the job done. I was setting the punch up the whole fight. He didn't see it coming. Like a lumberjack, timber.

"It's got to be the moment of my life. Look at my year. Four fights, four knockouts. Masvidal and Nate Diaz - you are b***** for leaving this arena. I will f*** you up too. Anyone, any time, any place."

Masvidal has a record of 35-15 and is currently ranked sixth in the welterweight division, while Diaz has a record of 21-13.

Diaz recently addressed rumours of a rubber fight with Conor McGregor after the pair fought twice in the UFC in 2016, with a victory each, and the 36-year-old seemed more focused on getting back in the octagon than entering a boxing ring, asking the UFC to be included on the card for UFC 270 in January.

McGregor suffered fractures to his tibia and fibula that resulted in a first-round stoppage loss to Dustin Poirier in September.

"I'm not fighting Conor until his leg grows back and he beats some people so we know he can even fight still till then," Diaz posted on Twitter.

"Can I get on January card @UFC. Thanks."

Israel Adesanya successfully defended his middleweight title once again, beating Marvin Vettori by unanimous decision in their rematch at UFC 263 in Arizona. 

UFC star Adesanya – who defeated Vettori by split decision in April 2018 – navigated five rounds with minimal difficulty, prevailing 50-45 on all three judges' scorecards in his third title defence since taking the belt with a knockout of Robert Whittaker in October 2019. 

Adesanya's only potential trouble spot came early in the third round on Saturday when Vettori knocked down the Nigeria-born New Zealander, but he weathered that challenge and handled everything else the Italian threw at him. 

A rematch with Whittaker seems on the cards as Adesanya (21-0) called out the Australian following his win, demanding a showdown in Auckland, New Zealand.

"You don't get to decide -- I get to decide," Adesanya said. "Because I'm the mother****** king, b****!"

Whittaker responded with a tweet that read "rest up, see you soon." 

Moreno first Mexican-born champ

In the co-headline bout, Brandon Moreno dominated Deiveson Figueiredo to take the Brazilian's flyweight strap and become the first Mexican-born UFC champion. 

Saturday's fight was in sharp contrast to the pair's draw at UFC 256 in December, as Moreno (19-5-2) had his way with the titleholder from the beginning. 

The 27-year-old from Tijuana submitted Figueiredo with a rear naked choke at 2:26 of the third round and exulted in his victory.

"UFC released me," Moreno said. "I wasn't that proud of my life but watch me holding this belt. I feel so amazing."

Figueiredo (20-2-1) was gracious in defeat, saying Moreno was "the better man tonight."

Edwards holds off late Diaz flurry

Leon Edwards and Nate Diaz made UFC history with the first non-main event, non-title bout to be scheduled for five rounds, and Diaz nearly made the extended term pay off. 

Edwards had his way for most of the fight but had to survive a furious flurry from the bloodied 36-year-old American in the fifth to win by unanimous decision, 49-46 on all cards. 

The pair had been scheduled to face off at UFC 262 last month, but the bout was pushed back when Diaz got cut in training.