Paddy Pimblett expects his next fight to be on UFC pay-per-view.
“Now I know for sure that I will be fighting on pay-per-views with John Anick, Joe Rogan and [Daniel Cormier] commentating,” Pimblett said after bringing the house down again at The O2 at UFC London.
Saturday’s event was the second time Pimblett has been given a hero’s welcome at the 20,000-seat venue since UFC London in March. When he revealed his $12,000 purse for a fight against Rodrigo Vargas, MMA watchers bemoaned the future star’s paycheck relative to the fanbase he secured. Pimblett subsequently signed a new contract with the UFC.
Pimblett won’t find a bigger crowd at the 20,000-seat T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but he’s sure fans will pay premium prices from here on out.
“I know I won’t be fighting at The O2 again,” he said. “It’s too small.”
Pimblett previously called to headline a UFC event at the massive Anfield football stadium in his native Liverpool. This goal has not changed.
“We’re going to do Anfield,” he said. “I promise you now. [UFC President] Dana [White] said she wouldn’t play at Anfield, but also said women would never fight in the UFC, and Ronda Rousey showed up. He said he wasn’t going to do a stadium in the UK but Baddy is coming so he will.
Flanked by his training partner and friend Molly McCann, who scored another win on the UFC London main card, Pimblett used half of his press conference to gorge on fast food. He made headlines with snooty reporters at the official weigh-ins for the event, telling off fans who shamed him for his eating habits.
Pimblett also struck a somber note, explaining his emotional post-fight tribute to a friend who had recently killed himself.
“Women talk to each other,” he said. “There is no stigma for women. They sit around drinking a cup of tea and tinkering. Men don’t, boy. Men feel like, “Oh, I can’t go and tell women that because they’ll think I’m a little sponge. That’s how men think.
“Like I said in the cage, I’d rather have my friend come to me and talk to me and cry on my shoulder than me crying when I’m carrying his casket a week later. Split second decisions ruin lives and that’s what happened this weekend. … People in the position I’m in, people who have a small following, they have to help people … whether it’s Joe down the street or your friend. We have to give back because without all the fans we wouldn’t get paid.
“I just like to give back. And as I said, I’m starting a charity for young children, The Little Baddies, but obviously now I’m considering doing a men’s mental health charity. The UK gives no funding for it and is the biggest killer of men 21-45. Men just kill themselves and nobody cares. We have to change that.”
Pimblett has yet to bring his unique brand across the pond to UFC fans, but he has already received plenty of exposure alongside McCann, the seasoned veteran of the duo. Both paid tribute to their fallen friend and ended the press release by thanking the media. According to Pymblet, this may be the last time they see them for a while.
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