Paddy Pimblett is a local hero in the UK and former Cage Warriors champion but it appears his UFC deal is still utter garbage. Much like the Dana White’s Contender Series signees, Pimblett is making the bare minimum in the premier MMA promotion.
Pimblett talked to Dave Portnoy of Barstool sports and revealed he only made $12,000 to show, $12,000 to win and that $50,0000 performance bonus. For those keeping scores at home, this totals to $78,000 pre taxes and managerial fees. THis is all the more stunning when you consider that UFC London produced record breaking gate numbers and earned the promotion over $5,4 Million.
Pimblett was not the only one to share his paycheck, his friend and teammate Molly McCann also shared wat she made.
“You have to pay your dues, but I’ll tell you one thing Dave, Dana will be getting the money out for our boy Patrick now,” McCann added as Portnoy was stunned at the low pay Pimblett received. She was then asked to confirm how much she was paid and McCann replied, “I think it was $40k and $40k.”
McCann had made more due to it being her 8th bout in the promotion and conceded that Paddy will likely out earn her with his next UFC contract.
Paddy’s situation closely mirrors that of Sean O’Malley. O’Malley made it into the UFC thanks to Dana White’s contender series. Contender series contracts can be particularly grueling due to the fact that there are no premiums, guarantees and the actual wage is even less so.
New @DavePortnoyShow out now. @theufcbaddy is up for a big payday https://t.co/mDEoWG4E0O pic.twitter.com/5mQ64LJR09
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) March 23, 2022
UFC brass would prefer they not be asked about the athlete pay structure – considering they upped it 600% but they fail to account for the fact went way up – roughly UFC revenue is up 1,700% since 05 and PROFITS up by 6,200%. This is a data point coming from longtime UFC pay analyst John Nash.
Recently the figure was used by Jake Paul to once again blast UFC for miniscule payments.
2 facts of the day:
#1 Masvidal is a bitch for ambushing Colby. Couldn’t hurt him in the cage so try to blindside him?
#2 UFC always says it’s increased fighter pay 600% since 2005. Per Huddle Up, UFC revenue is up 1,700% since 05 and PROFITS up by 6,200% ? 10x fighter pay!!!
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) March 22, 2022
Facing similar accusations last year White went on to claim that a prelims guy was getting $300k – this turned out to be false. The man raking it in was identified as Michael Chandler and his bout was moved to open a main card due to his opponent being cornered by Trevor Wittman who had asked to be able to rest between coaching sessions.