Misfits Boxing held an event on Friday, April 21, in conjunction with DAZN in New Orleans, Louisiana. The event was headlined by JMX taking on Le’Veon Bell, but the biggest story came from outside the squared circle.
UFC Legend Nate Diaz was in the front row supporting his friend Chris Avila, who won his boxing match against Paul Bamba last night via unanimous decision, taking his record to 3-0. Avila is unbeaten after he began his boxing career on the Jake Paul Vs. Tyron Woodley 2 undercard with a majority decision victory over Anthony Taylor. His Boxing victory over Taylor avenged his decision loss to the same opponent in an MMA bout a year earlier at Bellator 238.
Diaz and his crew were escorted from the arena after Diaz was spotted hurling a bottle of water toward Chase Demoor in what appeared to be a reaction to provocation from the TV personality.
This isn’t the first time (or even the second time) that Diaz has found another use for water bottles other than for rehydration purposes. Back in September, before Diaz’s victory in his farewell bout at UFC 279, the pre-fight press conference was canceled after a brawl broke out backstage involving Diaz, Kevin Holland, and Khamzat Chimaev (and various members of their respective teams. Footage of the incident was posted on Nate Diaz’s YouTube channel.
Before this, Diaz and Conor Mcgregor got into a bottle-throwing incident at a press conference ahead of their fight at UFC 202 in August 2016.
The drama would continue outside the ring last night as Diaz was filmed later that evening in an altercation with a man understood to be a novice boxer who resembles Logan Paul. It seemed (at least initially) as though the conversation between the pair was being defused. Two other men are seen entering the personal space of Diaz, who then got the Logan Paul lookalike in a headlock before delivering a knee to the body and releasing the unconscious man onto the pavement.
Nate Diaz has a history of not letting things slide, and perhaps the YouTube / Reality TV personalities realize this and see an opportunity for clicks. As one or two people found out after the event in New Orleans last night, sometimes those extra clicks come at a cost.
On August 5, Nate Diaz makes his boxing debut as he goes head-to-head with Jake Paul live on DAZN pay-per-view. Expect fireworks in the build-up, with Paul having great skill at getting under opponents skin, and Diaz having a history of responding to threats in a physical manner.
Discussion about this post