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On a big night with lots of big fights, Paddy Pimblett was clearly the star of UFC London. The Liverpudian fighter got the biggest reception from the O2 area crowd and ended up defeating his opponent Kazula Vargas in the first round with a tight rear-naked choke.
At the post-fight press conference, Pimblett declared himself the people's main event and once again brought up the possibility of headlining an event at Anfield, a 53,000 seat stadium in his hometown. One fight that would certainly fill a venue of that size is Paddy Pimblett vs. Conor McGregor. Asked if he'd be interested in fighting 'The Notorious,' Paddy 'The Baddy' sounded enthusiastic.
"Who wouldn't be interested in that fight, lads? Anyone on this roster that got offered to fight Conor McGregor, they're saying yeah. You're getting pure dough in pay-per-view points. Get that cash money in, yo!"
Watch the full UFC London post-fight press conference interview with Paddy Pimblett below:
Big fights and big money are something Pimblett is looking forward to, but not just for selfish reasons.
"I hope I do end up making as much money as Conor McGregor, lad. No child in my city will ever eat from the food bank ever again. I'm going to give back to my city and something I've been planning on doing the last few months is start my own charity and I think after this fight I'm going to get it done."
Paddy Pimblett won't fight a ranked opponent until the UFC pays him more
For now, Pimblett is hoping the fan reaction in the UK and around the world convinces the UFC to renegotiate his contract, which currently pays him $20,000 to show and $20,000 to win (not including bonuses). Until then, he won't be taking a big step up in the competition.
"No, lad, I wouldn't take a top 15 fight. I'll be honest, I wouldn't. Add some more zeros to my contract and then I will. I think I proved tonight that I deserve a new contract. Not this little standard one."
Pimblett may not have to argue with Dana White to get what he wants. In addition to UFC London being the biggest fight night of all time, White revealed that Pimblett's faceoff with Vargas did 1.3 million views on social media, beating out the Aspinall vs. Volkov main event by over a million.
