Paddy Pimblett extended his winning streak to eight professional fights as he earned a first-round submission over King Green at UFC 304. The fighter from Liverpool now finds himself ranked number 15 in the lightweight division after an impressive showing on Saturday night. Pimblett’s win over Green was the first time the American fighter tasted defeat via submission since 2009.
On the Monday following the bout, Pimblett released unseen footage to his YouTube channel, giving behind the scenes insight from Saturday night. The footage includes not only his preparations for the fight, but also the aftermath of his huge win.
Dana White Speaks to Paddy Pimblett After Victory
The UFC president called Paddy Pimblett into his VIP room following the impressive performance
In Pimblett’s YouTube video, a section of the video shows him being called into the VIP room by company president Dana White. The footage does not show the discussion that Pimblett had with the UFC headman, however, he did disclose what White said to him in their post-fight discussion. When asked what White said to him, Pimblett responded: “Hear what he said to me? He said; ‘F****** hell. Asked for 100k bonuses and then there’s seven decisions in a row.’ He went, ‘You might end up getting all the f****** money.’
Although it was not shown in the footage posted on his YouTube channel, Dana White announced in the post-fight press conference that Pimblett would receive a $200k bonus from the UFC. The fight night bonuses were increased from the original $50,000 to $100,000 following a request at the press conference. However, White stated in the post-fight interview that he would be making no such increases in the future.
The unseen footage also showed Pimblett reacting to Leon Edwards losing his welterweight title to Belal Muhammad in the main event. While watching the latter be announced as the winner, Pimblett’s response was: “Most boring champion ever.”
Paddy Pimblett Enters UFC Lightweight Rankings
King Green was the first ranked win of Pimblett’s career
Going into the bout at UFC 304, Pimblett found himself outside the top 15 of the lightweight division, with his last win coming against Tony Ferguson. His opponent, Green, was ranked the number 15 fighter in the division, following wins over the likes of Jim Miller and Grant Dawson. With Pimblett’s victory over Green, he took his ranking and became the number 15 UFC lightweight in the division.
In his Octagon interview, Pimblett made it clear that he had aspirations of fighting up the lightweight division. Conducting the post-fight interview, Daniel Cormier asked Pimblett: “Do you have a name that you would like to see in the Octagon next?”