Could UFC 304 be Paddy Pimblett's final fight in the octagon? With his contract almost complete, he is leaving options open.
Paddy Pimblett has a hard time seeing his fighting future happening anywhere outside the octagon beyond UFC 304, but it could.
Pimblett (21-3 MMA, 5-0 UFC) revealed to MMA Junkie on Thursday that his lightweight bout vs. Bobby Green (32-15-1 MMA, 13-10-1 UFC) on July 27 at Co-op Live in Manchester, England (ESPN+ pay-per-view) will be the final fight on his current UFC contract.
According to “The Baddy,” he has left any negotiations with the promotion to his manager Graham Boylan, but he doesn’t believe there were serious negotiations about a new deal before he signed on for UFC 304. It’s his expectation something will come together and he will continue competing under the UFC banner, but with some significant financial possibilities lingering in the world of YouTube boxing, Pimblett can’t rule anything out.
“It goes without saying: I wouldn’t want to go to a different organization,” Pimblett told MMA Junkie on Friday. “UFC is the cream of the crop. It’s the main place. When you say to people, ‘I do MMA.’ Most of them go, ‘What’s that?’ You say, ‘UFC.’ People don’t even know what MMA is. They know what UFC is. You never know, though. Some of these stupid YouTubers who are boxing could end up offering me millions to end up fighting one of them. So we’ll see what happens.”
As Pimblett prepares to look to extend his undefeated UFC run against Green, it’s hard to imagine a world outside the loaded 155-pound division. He thinks a win over Green will put him in the official UFC rankings, and if that happens he is warm to the idea of a matchup against Renato Moicano – regardless of whether he wins or loses against Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC Fight Night on Sept. 28 in Paris.
“Obviously, if I fight again this year, then I’m going to want to fight someone else and get in the rankings, and I’m going to want to fight someone higher up in the rankings,” Pimblett said. “Me and Moicano have had a little back-and-forth. I’d love to fight Moicano. I think it would be absolutely hilarious to do a season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ with him. I think that would be one of the best seasons they’ve ever done. We’ll see what happens. This is the last fight on my contract, so we’ll be getting back to the renegotiation table after this. So we’ll see what happens.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
