Paddy Pimblett hints at UFC departure

Paddy Pimblett has hinted that his upcoming fight at UFC 304 could be his last with the company.

The Liverpool native, who faces the newly re-named King Green (formerly Bobby Green) on the Manchester card on the night July 27, revealed in an interview with MMA Junkie that the bout is the final one on his existing UFC deal. And while he says that negotiations between both parties regarding new terms will take place, he isn’t ruling anything out — particularly with lucrative YouTube boxing a possibility moving forward.

“It goes without saying: I wouldn’t want to go to a different organisation,” he said.

“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.”

Former Cage Warriors champion Pimblett will chase his sixth Octagon win in his still-undefeated UFC later this month; a fight which comes around eight months after his most recent victory last December against Tony Ferguson.

And if he does re-up with the UFC, one fight stands out to him down the line after his fight with Green.

“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,” he 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.”