Former MMA star Josh Thomson has said that Nate Diaz will take on Jake Paul after his fight against Tommy Fury.
The Problem Child will take on Tyson Fury's half-brother in December and will next be up against the 36-year-old
Thomson, who beat Diaz in 2013, said that he is leaving UFC after his next fight to battle Paul. Speaking on the Weighing In Podcast, the 43-year-old said:
"He's leaving the UFC, he's fighting Jake Paul. Just stop, OK.
"This is his last fight, he's not fighting in the UFC anymore. He's going to leave and he's going to fight Jake Paul. He's just trying to get a fight to get out the door, he's done with MMA.
"He knows that fight is going to make him double than he'd make [against Conor McGregor]."
Diaz has had a pretty good career in the UFC, with 20 wins out of 33 fights. He won the Ultimate Fighter 5 championship in 2007 and was one of McGregor's strongest rivals.
Diaz defeated the Irishman in their first fight by submitting him with rear-naked choke. McGregor avenged his defeat by beating the American via majority decision.
Thomson also said that if Diaz is able to defeat Paul, there could be a trilogy fight between him and McGregor in a boxing ring.
"If Nate goes and beats Jake Paul, then I can see Dana saying, 'OK, let's fight Nate in boxing'. I couldn't see him doing it before, he has to beat Jake Paul first," he said.
"If he beats Jake Paul I can see him riding Conor in to be like, 'Nate and [Conor] in boxing makes sense'. It's a trilogy fight but not a trilogy fight because it's in boxing not in MMA."
Diaz has had a disappointing run lately, having lost both of his last two fights. His most recent bout came against Leon Edwards at UFC 263 in June, which the latter won via unanimous decision.