Jake Paul will be fighting Nate Diaz on Saturday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, home of the Mark Cuban-owned Mavericks. 

The American Airlines Center announced Thursday that the event will generate the second-highest recorded gate for a combat sports event in the arena's history, second only to the UFC 277 event held last year. 

For those who haven’t scored seats to watch in person, finding the pay-per-view card for purchase in boxing’s fragmented platform picture won’t be too much of a daunting task. 

The crossover boxing match was originally announced as a DAZN pay-per-view for $59.99.

Earlier this week, Paul’s company Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) announced an arrangement with ESPN and Top Rank to have its event also available for purchase on ESPN+ PPV in the United States.

While DAZN and ESPN+ require a subscription in order to purchase the PPV, Paul and company are also making the event available a-la-carte via PPV.com, and internationally on the Triller-owned FITE.

Heading into his eighth professional fight, the 26-year-old Paul (6-1, 4 KOs) already has had a propensity to work with many of the sport's top power players. 

For his match against Diaz, the self-promoted Paul will headline a PPV for a fourth different network in a two-year stretch. 

Paul is perhaps providing a blueprint for boxing on how a promising fighter with a powerful following can control their career and be affiliated across the board. 

Paul certainly stepped into boxing with a stronger foundation and resources than any typical upstart due to his YouTube career, and in an interview with BoxingScene.com, he shared how fellow fighters can follow in his freedom-filled footsteps.

“Don't get locked up into long-term deals, and figure out how you can be as independent as possible to best suit yourself and your career so that you can do what you want when you want,” said Paul. 

“It also helps you make more money. You have to be willing to bet on yourself, take risks, and put it all on the line. I've funded some of my own events and put money up on the line. You have to be willing to risk that. I think that is the future of the sport. Working with different media partners and not being tied for contracts too long. That's my message and I encourage other fighters to do so.”

Paul kicked off his career on a Matchroom Boxing card on DAZN in January 2020 and knocked out YouTuber Ali Eson Gib (AnEsonGib). 

He then co-headlined the Mike Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. exhibition on Triller PPV and sensationally knocked out former NBA player Nate Robinson in November 2020.

By April 2021, Paul was headlining his first PPV on Triller. Three consecutive PPVs followed on Showtime from 2021 to 2022, twice against Tyron Woodley and once versus Anderson Silva before Paul suffered his first career defeat to Tommy Fury in Saudi Arabia on ESPN+ PPV. 

The lightning rod Diaz (22-13 MMA, 13 Submission, 5 KOs, 4 Decisions) is a decades-long MMA star who’ll be making his pro boxing debut against Paul.

Diaz’s free agency period from UFC allowed Paul to pounce on providing him with a palatable pact. 

Diaz said he’d have to fight anywhere between one-to-three times in the UFC in order to earn the purse he’s making for fighting Paul.

"I don't know. Depends on how many people watch, I guess," Diaz told BoxingScene.com in an interview. "I got paid pretty good in the UFC. Different from everybody else. I don't like to yell out and scream about money and making all kinds of money but I would like to say that people get it twisted when they think that I wasn't getting much."

Diaz said he anticipates the PPV to reach two million buys, even though he sabotaged the event at times with questionable promotional tactics, referring to it as “not a real fight” while adding that crossover bouts are “f------ played out and burned a bit." 

Diaz definitely offers Paul a viable dance partner to reach new audiences and revenue. But they both also have to fight in tandem and try to knock out piracy and the projected 30-to-40% of PPV buys that illegal streaming depresses. 

“Nate has a massive name. He's the massive PPV draw of UFC times,” said Paul. “To me, that's exciting because I haven't yet really fought a massive PPV draw in the prime of their career, when they are still hot and active. To me, that's super exciting and there's beef that's been there. We've been trying to fight for a long time.” 

Paul can eventually even pull off a true crossover clash and transition into MMA for a sequel slugfest against Diaz. He’s already offered Diaz $10 million to duke it out in the cage. 

Earlier this year, Paul signed a multi-fight, multi-year deal with Professional Fighters League (PFL) calling for a 50% revenue share between him and the promotion. 

“Once I knock Nate out, maybe he’ll fight me in the PFL,” said Paul. “We’ll see what happens, but I am focused on Saturday.” 

Paul was recently listed on the Sports Illustrated "Power List," which is described as "the definitive index of the 50 most influential figures and forces who drive the sports world, on and off the field and court."

He’s also been featured on the Forbes lists in 2022 for Top Creators (No. 10) and The World's Highest-Paid Athletes (No. 46).

Paul leverages a prolific 75 million-plus combined social media following on platforms like Instagram (23.8 million), YouTube (20.3 million), TikTok (17.2 million), Facebook (5.7 million), Twitter (4.6 million) and Snapchat (2.8 million).

Paul has quickly proven that he’s well past being a sideshow, Butterbean-like act. 

Now, he’s the one slamming other influencers who are staining the sport, all while doing his part in elevating boxing out of its niche roots and promoting Amanda Serrano, a future Hall of Fame fighter.

Serrano will be providing chief support Saturday when she faces Heather Hardy. Paul promoted Serrano’s fight of the year candidate against Katie Taylor in 2022 at the Madison Square Garden, marking the first time two females headlined a show in the hallowed New York arena. 

"He did more for boxing than some of the champions did," Mike Tyson says in the new Netflix movie, "Untold: Jake Paul the Problem Child”. "We got to keep this guy bright because he’s going to save boxing – as long as he continues to fight. He got the light, you know what I mean? He’s touched. He got the light."

Not everything has been smooth sailing for Paul, however. 

He lost his last fight against Fury in a subpar performance, and he’ll need to rebound with a solid showing against Diaz in order to revive his cache and secure his future staying power. 

“I said I would become one of the biggest pay-per-view stars … and said, 'I'm going to become a world champion,'” said Paul. “I always make goals that scare me but I believe in myself enough to do them. If your goals don't scare you they are not big enough ... I kind of predicted this.” 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.