UFC lightweight star Paddy Pimblett is a proud UFC fighter and shunned the Professional Fighters League and Bellator in a recent interview.
Pimblett revealed that he nearly walked away from fighting early in his career because he wasn’t getting paid enough. He was struggling to make ends meet before signing with the UFC. Had he been offered a contract from Bellator or the PFL at the time, he might have signed it, but said no one dreams of fighting for either promotion.
“Of course, it would have been a tougher decision (if Bellator or PFL offered him a contract). I was looking at walking away from MMA at 4-1 because I wasn’t getting paid enough. I was gonna quit MMA when I was 18, I was getting paid like, £500 a fight, something stupid like that. It wasn’t enough,” he said in an interview with Severe MMA.
“So I can understand a lot of fighters right now that are going to PFL and going to Bellator. But, if you’ve got a dream that you want to be in the UFC — I think 99 out of 100 MMA fighters dream to be in the UFC. No one gets up in the morning and goes, ‘I want to fight for Bellator, or, ‘I want to fight for PFL.’ The only reason people go to PFL is to try to win the million dollars with easier fights,” continued Pimblett.
‘The Baddy’ is recovering from ankle surgery. He last fought at UFC 282 in December and won a controversial decision over Jared Gordon.
Paddy Pimblett snubs Bellator and PFL fight promotions