Paddy Pimblett has the support of UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling after earning a guarantee of just £9,000 for his last UFC fight.
The promotion generated a record gate of $4.5million, but Pimblett was paid just $12,000 (£9,000) to show up and a further $12,000 to win. He ended up leaving the event having earned $74,000 (£58,000) after also picking up a stoppage bonus from the promotion on an historic night.
But fans and fighters alike were outraged after learning of the relatively paltry sum that Pimblett earned after attracting a huge portion of the audience to the venue. He fought in the third fight from the end of the event, and was one of the star attractions after an explosive debut the previous September.
And Sterling believes that he deserves a considerable amount more for his fights, particularly given how popular the fighter is with fans around the world, particularly in the UK. The bantamweight champion expressed his annoyance at Pimblett's payouts on his podcast recently, saying that he had attracted the majority of fans to the arena.
"Paddy Pimblett, super popular, pretty much sold out the entire arena," Sterling explained during a discussion on fighter pay. "Himself, damn near by himself. Tom Aspinall, Paddy Pimblett, Molly McCann... But the person that most of the people came to see was Paddy freaking Pimblett.
"Obviously they came for the UFC show because it's the freaking UFC and everybody comes out for that, but who are they coming to see at the UFC event? Paddy Pimblett.
"Are people justifying that it's okay for Paddy Pimblett who's selling that many tickets and bringing that many eyeballs to just get 12 and 12? Obviously he hasn't paid his dues yet, but this is where there's an issue with popularity, does this guy sell tickets?"
Pimblett makes considerably more than just $74,000 through endorsements outside of the cage. Most notable is his mega-money Barstool Sports deal worth around $1million a year to create content and work as an ambassador for the brand.
What do you make of Paddy Pimblett's pay situation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
The Brit has generally remained coy on the issue, although he did tell reporters after his win over Rodrigo Vargas that he wouldn't fight against a top-15 opponent until he was given a new contract. “Without being a big-headed tool, I am the star of the show,” Pimblett said at the time.
“It’s that simple. Expect me to take over the show. I told you this. This is the ‘Baddy’ show. Swept the O2 right up. I wouldn’t take a top 15 fight,I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t. Add some more zeroes to my contract and then I will. I think I proved tonight that I deserve a new contract. Not this little standard one.”
Pimblett is expected to return at The O2 arena this July when the UFC returns to the UK for the second time this year, although no opponent has been named yet. There are rumours that he will face Ottman Azaitar after a UFC "leak" during Dana White's appearance on The Pivot podcast, but nothing has been confirmed as yet.
