Fight Announcement Thread

[Carbomb]

At this point, it really does feel like the most obvious route fighters should be taking is to go to Bellator, get that extra cash from sponsorship and build up the record, then get more out of Plastic Caesar when they've finally become undeniable to the UFC.

[Bus Surfer]

Can't stand Pimblett, but Graham Boylan being his manager whilst being a feeder for the UFC probably has something to do with the shitty contract. 

The whole 'I can make more money outside the UFC doing other shit' is a head scratcher to me. Paddy has a following because of his fighting. I'm sure there is a contingent of knuckle draggers who just think he's a bit of a lad and would support him because of that but surely that is a minority? If he's not fighting regularly, surely these lucrative Barstool contracts will dry up sooner rather than later?

[David]

28 minutes ago, Silky Kisser said:

Can't stand Pimblett, but Graham Boylan being his manager whilst being a feeder for the UFC probably has something to do with the shitty contract. 

The whole 'I can make more money outside the UFC doing other shit' is a head scratcher to me. Paddy has a following because of his fighting. I'm sure there is a contingent of knuckle draggers who just think he's a bit of a lad and would support him because of that but surely that is a minority? If he's not fighting regularly, surely these lucrative Barstool contracts will dry up sooner rather than later?

The opportunities would dry up, but to be fair to the lad he did say that he doesn't have to fight as often as some fans would like him to, he didn't say he wouldn't fight at all.

Which is true. I'm guessing the marketing appeal of being a UFC fighter, and a fighter with a solid fanbase and who actually wins fights at that, could prove to be more lucrative than his actual fights. Saying that, if he's pulling in £50,000 or so by fighting three times a year then it wouldn't be difficult. 

[wandshogun09]

2 hours ago, David said:

I'm willing to bet my signed Yoel Romero 8x10 that Pimblett would have been offered more money by Bellator. Their European presence would have seen them only too happy to add him to their roster, and he'd likely have been offered a decent chunk of change to sign with them.

PFL would’ve been another option as well, with the opportunity to win a million dollars if you win the tournament. We saw Antonio Carlos Junior do that recently and he’s a fighter I really like but, if I’m being honest, I doubt he’d have ever strung enough wins together in the UFC to even sniff half a million. I don’t know what Eagle FC are paying out but there are options out there. Fuck, for $12k/$12k, he’s probably not even on much more, if any more, than he was making as Cage Warriors champ. 

[wandshogun09]

5 minutes ago, David said:

I'm guessing the marketing appeal of being a UFC fighter, and a fighter with a solid fanbase and who actually wins fights at that, could prove to be more lucrative than his actual fights. 

The winning fights bit is probably coming to an end soon though. In his next fight most likely if this Ottman Azaitar fight comes off. They can’t keep giving him these Luigi Vendramini and Kazula Vargas types forever and the very thing that’s gained him a following, his fucking unclosable gob, is the thing that’s gonna get him in trouble sooner rather than later because he’s mouthing off at fighters who’ll most likely wreck him. Azaitar, Kutateladze and Topuria all want to twat him and likely would. And he’s got people wanting to see fights like that now. The people who’ve fallen for his crap patter are probably convinced he mops the cage with these guys and the people who loathe him wanna see him catch a pasting. He’s good at getting people invested, I’ll give him that. But he’s a victim of his own ability there, I think. And maybe he’s started to realise that now because he’s only started whinging about money after the Vargas fight in March. The same week when he had that run-in with Topuria backstage, the same week Topuria called him out after his fight and Paddy ignored the callout. Now the plan is apparently Azaitar and he suddenly doesn’t wanna be active. I didn’t hear any of that out of him when they were lining up cans for him to knock over. 

Like you say, it’s up to a fighter if they only wanna fight 2 times a year. And I’d certainly rather see them take those breaks between fights. But that’s where the pay comes in, because they’ve accepted a low ball offer, they pretty much have to fight every 3 months or so to make a decent living. And when Paddy’s banging on about stadiums and Anfield and all that, he’s gonna have to start facing opposition with a pulse. He’s not headlining stadium cards with some 12-7 journeyman. He seems to want all the perks of being a top guy - the big money, the stadiums etc - but still face Fight Pass prelim level opposition. So far he seems to have fooled a fair few people that he’s the next Conor McGregor but that’s all soon gonna fizzle out when he either keeps fighting jobbers (and still somehow gets rocked by them) or refuses to fight altogether. Like Silky says, every bit of his name value comes from his fighting career. 

[Egg Shen]

Shoeface said he made more in 1 year in the PFL than he made over a 6 year, 13 fight run in the UFC.

[Egg Shen]

the real World Heavyweight Title will be contested in June:

[Cousin Jim Bob]

13 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

The winning fights bit is probably coming to an end soon though. In his next fight most likely if this Ottman Azaitar fight comes off. They can’t keep giving him these Luigi Vendramini and Kazula Vargas types forever and the very thing that’s gained him a following, his fucking unclosable gob, is the thing that’s gonna get him in trouble sooner rather than later because he’s mouthing off at fighters who’ll most likely wreck him. Azaitar, Kutateladze and Topuria all want to twat him and likely would. And he’s got people wanting to see fights like that now. The people who’ve fallen for his crap patter are probably convinced he mops the cage with these guys and the people who loathe him wanna see him catch a pasting. He’s good at getting people invested, I’ll give him that. But he’s a victim of his own ability there, I think. And maybe he’s started to realise that now because he’s only started whinging about money after the Vargas fight in March. The same week when he had that run-in with Topuria backstage, the same week Topuria called him out after his fight and Paddy ignored the callout. Now the plan is apparently Azaitar and he suddenly doesn’t wanna be active. I didn’t hear any of that out of him when they were lining up cans for him to knock over. 

Like you say, it’s up to a fighter if they only wanna fight 2 times a year. And I’d certainly rather see them take those breaks between fights. But that’s where the pay comes in, because they’ve accepted a low ball offer, they pretty much have to fight every 3 months or so to make a decent living. And when Paddy’s banging on about stadiums and Anfield and all that, he’s gonna have to start facing opposition with a pulse. He’s not headlining stadium cards with some 12-7 journeyman. He seems to want all the perks of being a top guy - the big money, the stadiums etc - but still face Fight Pass prelim level opposition. So far he seems to have fooled a fair few people that he’s the next Conor McGregor but that’s all soon gonna fizzle out when he either keeps fighting jobbers (and still somehow gets rocked by them) or refuses to fight altogether. Like Silky says, every bit of his name value comes from his fighting career. 

 

I can't stand him but can also see where he coming from. He could probably headline a card here atm. Especially in the north west. Not a stadium but he could fill an arena. $12'000 to show and win would be a pisstake then.

If he is going to step up in opponents then like everyone should, he should get paid for it.   

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, he could definitely headline a Fight Night now. But that’s not saying much when we’re in an era where the likes of Cynthia Calvillo and Aspen Ladd have main evented. He’d certainly generate more interest than them but his opposition has got to improve because he’s been beating absolute bottom rung guys so far. And even the money thing, while 12/12k is crap, he did agree to those terms as recently as last year. If it’s the standard 6 fight deal then I’m not sure they can even find 4 more Vendramini/Vargas level scrubs for him to squash in the Lightweight division. 155 is pretty fucking strong throughout. Even this planned Azaitar fight, Azaitar isn’t ranked and hasn’t fought since 2020. These are the type of guys you have to fight when you’re in the deepest division in the UFC.

If Pimblett’s so confident in his skills then why not just blast through his next 4 fights (or however many he’s got left on his current deal), make himself undeniable and renegotiate? For all his faults, that’s what Conor McGregor did. From what I can find, he started on $8k to show/$8k to win in his UFC debut in 2013. It creeped up with each fight after that - 12/12, 16/16 then shooting up to 75/75 for his PPV debut against Poirier. Then of course, he cleaned up on bonuses. But he was willing to fight whoever was thrown at him. Surely Pimblett’s pay increases with each fight? I highly doubt he’ll be on 12/12 for all of his fights on the current contract. It’s not how the UFC deals work from everything I’ve read over the years. Even way back, I’m sure I remember Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell saying in their books that they were on deals where the show/win money would increase each fight. That was early Zuffa days, 20 years ago. With McGregor, I’m sure once they realised what they had, they upped his money even mid-deal because by his sixth fight in, he was fighting Chad Mendes for the interim title in a massive PPV headliner. He took of big time early on. I think Dana and co probably really cottoned on that he was gonna be a huge star after that Holloway fight on FOX because he swallowed up pretty much all the media attention on fight week and it was a card with some big names on. But all anyone wanted to talk about was Conor McGregor. Then when he came back from the knee surgery and headlined that mad Dublin card, they probably just ripped up his initial contract and rejigged it. But that’s not gonna happen for everyone, or really almost anyone, else. And if Pimblett is gonna start getting picky with who he fights now, won’t agree to the fights the UFC wants to make and starts publicly criticising fighter pay, it’s gonna go more the way of Roger Huerta than Conor McGregor. 

[Cousin Jim Bob]

4 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Yeah, he could definitely headline a Fight Night now. But that’s not saying much when we’re in an era where the likes of Cynthia Calvillo and Aspen Ladd have main evented. He’d certainly generate more interest than them but his opposition has got to improve because he’s been beating absolute bottom rung guys so far. And even the money thing, while 12/12k is crap, he did agree to those terms as recently as last year. If it’s the standard 6 fight deal then I’m not sure they can even find 4 more Vendramini/Vargas level scrubs for him to squash in the Lightweight division. 155 is pretty fucking strong throughout. Even this planned Azaitar fight, Azaitar isn’t ranked and hasn’t fought since 2020. These are the type of guys you have to fight when you’re in the deepest division in the UFC.

If Pimblett’s so confident in his skills then why not just blast through his next 4 fights (or however many he’s got left on his current deal), make himself undeniable and renegotiate? For all his faults, that’s what Conor McGregor did. From what I can find, he started on $8k to show/$8k to win in his UFC debut in 2013. It creeped up with each fight after that - 12/12, 16/16 then shooting up to 75/75 for his PPV debut against Poirier. Then of course, he cleaned up on bonuses. But he was willing to fight whoever was thrown at him. Surely Pimblett’s pay increases with each fight? I highly doubt he’ll be on 12/12 for all of his fights on the current contract. It’s not how the UFC deals work from everything I’ve read over the years. Even way back, I’m sure I remember Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell saying in their books that they were on deals where the show/win money would increase each fight. That was early Zuffa days, 20 years ago. With McGregor, I’m sure once they realised what they had, they upped his money even mid-deal because by his sixth fight in, he was fighting Chad Mendes for the interim title in a massive PPV headliner. He took of big time early on. I think Dana and co probably really cottoned on that he was gonna be a huge star after that Holloway fight on FOX because he swallowed up pretty much all the media attention on fight week and it was a card with some big names on. But all anyone wanted to talk about was Conor McGregor. Then when he came back from the knee surgery and headlined that mad Dublin card, they probably just ripped up his initial contract and rejigged it. But that’s not gonna happen for everyone, or really almost anyone, else. And if Pimblett is gonna start getting picky with who he fights now, won’t agree to the fights the UFC wants to make and starts publicly criticising fighter pay, it’s gonna go more the way of Roger Huerta than Conor McGregor. 

 

I know you don't like Paddy but he could be a huge draw, especially over here and he knows it and deserves to get paid for it. There is money in main eventing shows here.. I mean Bisping was apparently on ten times his contract, ten years ago. 

And McGregor fought non stop every fight to get more money with the bosses. He constantly shifted his deal fighting for money.  Didn't one of the Fertittas brothers flat out refuse to do business with him  at one point ? He was a total pain in the arse money wise. 

For UFC fighters I think the big deal is  "know what your worth". Paddy is becoming a known brand in mma. He is a dick but I've no problems with UFC fighters fighting for better pay if thats what he doing.

Edited May 7, 2022 by Cousin Jim Bob

[wandshogun09]

I hear you. But it’s genuinely not just because I dislike him that I’m saying all this. I think he could be a huge draw. But only IF he keeps winning. And that’s a massive if. The thing about Conor was that he had the personality - good or bad - and he was backing it up in the cage. There was also a series of circumstances there that helped push him over the edge. Oddly, the layoff from the knee injury in the Holloway fight actually seemed to make him more of a star. Then he had that mad homecoming in Dublin, knocked out Poirier and then all the delays getting the Aldo fight on, beating Mendes on short notice, then the 13 seconds against Aldo. If he couldn’t deliver in the cage, his personality would’ve only taken him so far. And that’s where Paddy’s gonna let himself down, I reckon. There’s a reason he’s only started on about his pay now the offers of gimme fights (that he still gets rocked in) have stopped coming in.

Unless he’s improved massively from the exciting but flawed fighter I saw losing to Soren Bak in Cage Warriors, he’s gonna struggle big time. And from what we’ve seen in his first couple of UFC fights, I’ll admit he’s fun to watch but a lot of that’s because he’s way too reckless in there and there’s a feeling it could all go tits up any second. As he moves up in levels, forget the top of the division - guys like Azaitar, Guram Kutateladze, Mateusz Gamrot, Arman Tsarukyan, Mason Jones, Joel Alvarez, Ignacio Bahamondes would make him pay a heavy price for leaving his jowly chin out there the way he did against Vendramini and Vargas. I think vets like Bobby Green, Jim Miller and Carlos Diego Ferreira would give him nightmares as well. There are so many badasses at 155 in the UFC. For Pimblett to become the huge star people are predicting he will be, he’s got to fight some of this lot on the way up. Then if he somehow miraculously gets through that gauntlet - Oliveira, Gaethje, Makhachev, Poirier, Chandler, McGregor, Dariush etc await. 

I’ve rambled. But as for what he deserves, it’s harsh but you pretty much deserve what you negotiate. His management negotiated a crappy deal and he signed it. If after a couple of fights he’d generated buzz like McGregor or Rousey did in their first 6 months, or stepped in and saved a show, or beat someone, anyone decent, maybe they’d reconsider his pay. But they’re not gonna pay him ‘huge star’ money when he’s got no real track record yet and has only beat a couple of nobodies. They’re just not gonna invest big money until they see he’s got the goods in the cage against legit opponents. And he doesn’t seem keen to fight anyone legit. If he can get more fair play to him. I’m not necessarily saying he shouldn’t get it. Just giving my reasons why it most likely won’t happen.

One last thing, I keep hearing he’s some huge star and he’ll be a mega draw and all that. Is he though? What’s it based on? I’m not saying this to be a dick either, I don’t keep up with ratings or buy rates or who’s trending. Is Pimblett getting the credit for drawing the crowd to the last London card or something? Because if that’s the case, it’s surely bollocks. That was the first UFC card in the UK in 3 years. I don’t think the credit can be given to any one fighter, fans here were starved of the live UFC experience. Pimblett certainly added to it but it would’ve pulled a crowd regardless. 

[Cousin Jim Bob]

6 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

I hear you. But it’s genuinely not just because I dislike him that I’m saying all this. I think he could be a huge draw. But only IF he keeps winning. And that’s a massive if. The thing about Conor was that he had the personality - good or bad - and he was backing it up in the cage. There was also a series of circumstances there that helped push him over the edge. Oddly, the layoff from the knee injury in the Holloway fight actually seemed to make him more of a star. Then he had that mad homecoming in Dublin, knocked out Poirier and then all the delays getting the Aldo fight on, beating Mendes on short notice, then the 13 seconds against Aldo. If he couldn’t deliver in the cage, his personality would’ve only taken him so far. And that’s where Paddy’s gonna let himself down, I reckon. There’s a reason he’s only started on about his pay now the offers of gimme fights (that he still gets rocked in) have stopped coming in.

Unless he’s improved massively from the exciting but flawed fighter I saw losing to Soren Bak in Cage Warriors, he’s gonna struggle big time. And from what we’ve seen in his first couple of UFC fights, I’ll admit he’s fun to watch but a lot of that’s because he’s way too reckless in there and there’s a feeling it could all go tits up any second. As he moves up in levels, forget the top of the division - guys like Azaitar, Guram Kutateladze, Mateusz Gamrot, Arman Tsarukyan, Mason Jones, Joel Alvarez, Ignacio Bahamondes would make him pay a heavy price for leaving his jowly chin out there the way he did against Vendramini and Vargas. I think vets like Bobby Green, Jim Miller and Carlos Diego Ferreira would give him nightmares as well. There are so many badasses at 155 in the UFC. For Pimblett to become the huge star people are predicting he will be, he’s got to fight some of this lot on the way up. Then if he somehow miraculously gets through that gauntlet - Oliveira, Gaethje, Makhachev, Poirier, Chandler, McGregor, Dariush etc await. 

I’ve rambled. But as for what he deserves, it’s harsh but you pretty much deserve what you negotiate. His management negotiated a crappy deal and he signed it. If after a couple of fights he’d generated buzz like McGregor or Rousey did in their first 6 months, or stepped in and saved a show, or beat someone, anyone decent, maybe they’d reconsider his pay. But they’re not gonna pay him ‘huge star’ money when he’s got no real track record yet and has only beat a couple of nobodies. They’re just not gonna invest big money until they see he’s got the goods in the cage against legit opponents. And he doesn’t seem keen to fight anyone legit. If he can get more fair play to him. I’m not necessarily saying he shouldn’t get it. Just giving my reasons why it most likely won’t happen.

One last thing, I keep hearing he’s some huge star and he’ll be a mega draw and all that. Is he though? What’s it based on? I’m not saying this to be a dick either, I don’t keep up with ratings or buy rates or who’s trending. Is Pimblett getting the credit for drawing the crowd to the last London card or something? Because if that’s the case, it’s surely bollocks. That was the first UFC card in the UK in 3 years. I don’t think the credit can be given to any one fighter, fans here were starved of the live UFC experience. Pimblett certainly added to it but it would’ve pulled a crowd regardless. 

 

I do Microsoft Reward points so once a day I log in to Bing. On its main page amongst the news stories it's algorithm has figured out I like MMA. Everyday there is a lazy story written by some idiot about Conor McGregor or Jake Paul or both. Usually what they have said on their social media that day to make the story even lazier. Pimblett gets on those. If those fuckwits are covering you, your doing something right. Alot of legit men and women UFC champion's they just ignore. 

 

We can look at Pimblett opponents and realise they are not very good but to a newcomer Pimblett just won two UFC fights in crazy fashion. Then got on the mic and showed alot of charisma. Liverpool is a big sports city too and Paddy is cleverly trying to get the football fans backing him like boxers do. Till tried that but it fell apart here when he started losing.

 

Maybe that will happen with Pimblett. As you say he is in shark tank of a division. Tbh I think he will end up a Cerrone type fighter. Popular and in very entertaining fights but not troubling the top guys. I think comparing him to Conor is unfair because pretty much no one has ever done what he did on his rise. Conor just buzz sawed through tough guys then the champ in Aldo. I doubt Paddy will reach those highs but then again who else has ? He is a young, shit talking fighter from a big city who has just had two very entertaining UFC wins though. There's alot of potential if he can somehow keep winning as he steps up the levels.

Edited May 7, 2022 by Cousin Jim Bob

[wandshogun09]

Confirmed.

Same card as Volkanovski vs Holloway 3, Strickland vs Pereira, Lawler vs Barberena and Murphy vs Tate. Shaping up nicely.

This is on for 277 a few weeks later as well;

That’s the card they’re supposed to be targeting for Jones vs Miocic but I can’t see that one happening. 

[David]

On 5/7/2022 at 3:02 PM, wandshogun09 said:

I’ve rambled. But as for what he deserves, it’s harsh but you pretty much deserve what you negotiate. His management negotiated a crappy deal and he signed it. If after a couple of fights he’d generated buzz like McGregor or Rousey did in their first 6 months, or stepped in and saved a show, or beat someone, anyone decent, maybe they’d reconsider his pay. But they’re not gonna pay him ‘huge star’ money when he’s got no real track record yet and has only beat a couple of nobodies. They’re just not gonna invest big money until they see he’s got the goods in the cage against legit opponents. And he doesn’t seem keen to fight anyone legit. If he can get more fair play to him. I’m not necessarily saying he shouldn’t get it. Just giving my reasons why it most likely won’t happen.

The part in bold is key. It's not as if he's sitting at the end of a first contract having put on exciting fights and main eventing shows only to be lowballed. He actively signed that contract only two fights ago. 

You either blast through that deal as Wand mentioned, or you decide to play hardball. Playing hardball works if you have a track record of winning and you've built yourself up into a star, which he hasn't yet. The time to make noises about a new contract is when you're approaching the 4th or 5th fight of that 6 fight deal, and you've rattled off three or four stoppages and looked good doing it.

I have no doubt the UFC are looking at him as a potential star, but are they going to throw him a new 6-fight deal on big money based on his previous two showings? Let's be honest here, he's not looked like McGregor did in his early UFC career. Pimblett has won his fights, but he's not looked unbeatable. 

Take away the gob, the poundland He-Man haircut and he's a decent prospect. Nothing more at this stage.

Edited May 9, 2022 by David

[Egg Shen]