A Jake Paul groupie masquerading as a reporter was fired on the spot during the boxer’s Wednesday morning press conference.
Paul’s press conference showdown with UFC icon Nate Diaz turned into chaos when they came face to face ahead of their bout on August 5 in Dallas.
In a wild media conference at American Airlines Arena, Paul swiped Diaz using a prop monkey while Diaz at one point stormed out to use the bathroom.
The most headline-grabbing moment was when an employee of Paul’s Betr Media company attacked Diaz’s brother Nick.
The media member asked: “Nate I’m actually a boxer myself and I have been trying to get on this undercard, I’m just wondering if you think I could fight your brother, Nick? If he’s anything like you I think I’d beat his f–king ass.”
Warning: Graphic language
Diaz was stoic as he processed the bizarre question before responding to the threat with one of his own
“You know my homeboys see you right now,” he told the reporter. “That was stupid, huh? That was stupid. What’s your name?”
The man responded by saying he was “Derrick from Betr Media”.
Diaz was scathing in his reply.
“Hey, Derrick from Better Media, you’re a stupid ass motherf–ker,” he said. “The f–k? You deserve to have your ass whipped.”
The reporter said he was “definitely pretty nervous.”
It turns out he should have been more worried about his employment with Paul cutting in to say he was going to “fire” the reporter.
“He works for my company. I’ll handle that later. I’m sorry about that Nate,” Paul said. “I’ll fire him later. Derrick shut up. Derrick shut up.”
UFC referee Marc Goddard rolled his eyes after seeing the exchange.
The man referred to as “Derrick” then quickly shut himself down.
The Paul-Diaz fight is finally happening after more than two years of verbal barbs being exchanged.
Diaz had previously been unable to get out of the contract he was still under with UFC.
The 38-year-old further tossed the bout into uncertainty when he was arrested last month over a viral video where he was seen choking out a man during a street brawl.
It will be Paul’s first fight since he lost his unbeaten record at the hands of Tommy Fury in February.
A rematch between Paul and Fury was expected to follow until Diaz surprisingly signed to face Paul instead.
But the YouTube star — speaking at the Miami Grand Prix — insisted that the celebrity boxing rivals will fight again soon.
“It’s going to happen, it’s going to happen for sure,” Paul told Sky Sports. “I think it was a great fight, it was entertaining, it was the biggest pay-per-view buys in boxing for the last two years so I think we have to run it back. Tommy is down and I’m excited for that.”