Jake Paul says he opted to fight Nate Diaz instead of setting up a return with Tommy Fury because the MMA icon is a ‘way bigger pay-per-view draw’.

Paul suffered the first defeat of his boxing career in February when Fury, younger brother of world heavyweight champion Tyson, claimed a split decision after eight rounds in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.

It was the former Youtube star’s first fight against another professional boxer and he lost narrowly on the cards and even dropped Fury in the final round of their clash.

They were expected to meet in an immediate, money-spinning rematch but Paul has instead agreed to fight Diaz at the American Airlines Center, Dallas in the Stockton man’s first boxing match.

Now Paul has revealed that it was a business decision because Fury was making unrealistic demands following his victory.

He said: “Tommy had a big head after the win so he wants all this money and stuff like that, which is fine, but he needs to be realistic because he’s not the pay-per-view draw. If Tommy went and fought this weekend nobody would really be watching.

“Nate Diaz was there ready, willing and able and is a way, way, way bigger pay-per-view draw than Tommy Fury so from a business perspective it makes a lot more sense.

“I always said, even during the Tommy Fury build up, that I wanted Nate Diaz after Tommy. That really was regardless of the outcome, I’ve always wanted to fight Nate Diaz. He was always next on my list.

“There’s always a bunch of options. I went back to the Nate Diaz idea as the original plan and he was ready and willing to make the fight happen and it just made more sense than doing the Tommy Fury rematch right away.”