The trend of non-boxers moving over to boxing on payperview for big payouts in a single night continues with the latest person toying with the idea of changing sports being Paddy "The Baddie" Pimblett stating in a recent interview that his upcoming fight at UFC 304 is the last on his contract and that he is open to the idea of moving over to what he calls "YouTube boxing" if someone were to throw millions of dollars to him.
While I can't blame the guy for chasing the bucks, it is a shame to see both sports getting impacted by what I consider "fake boxing."
Paddy is undefeated, that much is admirable, but other than Tony Ferguson his opponents have been a list of people you likely have never heard of. They are the who's who of "huh?"
He isn't even ranked in the top 15 yet and at UFC 304 he is getting a nod not just because he is good and because he is a targeted up-and-comer whose team uses their social media very effectively, but because it is taking place in the UK and when that happens, they showcase the "home team" as much as possible.
I'm not trying to take anything away from Pimblett, he is a great fighter and exciting to watch..
Skip ahead to about 10 minutes to see his more recent stuff. The rest is pretty good too but it was years ago, and therefore I don't find it terribly applicable to the present day.
After his next fight he is toying with the idea of moving over to the sadly, popular world of 2nd tier boxing and while I hate that this is happening, you can't argue with the financial incentives if it is offered to him. Pre-tax Paddy has made $510,000 in the UFC, which sounds like a lot until you consider how much time is involved here - which is nearly 3 years. There are a lot of people with regular jobs that aren't on TV that make more than this from their job. Granted, his involvement in UFC opened the door for other endorsements as well but as far as his per-fight payout in UFC is concerned, it is peanuts compared to what he could make in a single fight with "YouTube boxing."
I think that if he were to do this that it would really piss off UFC because other than the Tony Ferguson fight, I feel as though his opponents were hand-selected mostly because it was assumed he would win. His personality and where he happens to be from appears to have been a large part behind why he was propelled to the forefront. Whether it is fair or not (it isn't fair) the best fighters aren't always given the same chance, especially if English is not their native language.
I suspect that this trend of poaching MMA stars and in particular UFC stars to move over the exhibition boxing for big paydays is something that is going to continue until UFC finally admits that they need to pay their fighters more. This has been the subject of a ton of debate for years now and I think that a mass exodus is really the only thing that could change the pay disparity. Of course it also could have a net zero effect as well because for every person that leaves UFC, there are 10 people that really are vying for that spot.
While Paddy hasn't said anything official about this and it was just an off the cuff remark done during an interview, the fact that he brought it up at all says that it weighs heavy on his mind and how could it not? The UFC is well known for sending fighters out to pasture once they are done with them and a single boxing match could triple the earnings he has made in his entire MMA career. It's tough to say no to that!