Pretty much all UFC fighters apart from the superstars are underpaid. Even Ngannou isn't paid what he should. Half a million for his last fight when there's people like Nate Diaz getting nearly a million fore his last fight and Khamzat Chimaev reportedly got 2 million. Doesn't make sense to me. They really need to start paying fighters a lot more or they're gonna have a lot of great fighters and showmen leave.
I don't think they will leave UFC, the biggest MMA event is UFC, the others like Bellator, KSW, PFL, One championship are pay their fighters lower than UFC. So if those fighters want to continue their journey on MMA, in the end they will stay in UFC even though the paycheck is really different between popular fighters and not really known fighters (although he's the champion).Loads of fighters have already left and many are already fighting in Bellator and other promotions. If there's a mass exodus then Bellator will quickly grow and could become a viable competitor. You're right that they won't get as much as in the UFC but if UFC is strong-arming them by not paying them any more or refusing to re-sign then they will have no choice. Ngannou will be out of contract in January I believe and if they can't come to an agreement he will be a free-agent. Where will he go if they both refuse to come to an agreement? He will have to go somewhere. Bellator will probably give him a good deal and it may or may not be better than the UFC but getting him would be a big win and get a lot of eyeballs on them as a promotion. IF they get a reputation of being more favourable to fighters they could quickly gain ground as a strong rival. The bigger Bellator grows the more they can pay fighters.
Paddy Pimblet has been acting a bit cringe for me recently. Him and Dana were embarrassingly sucking each other off on his podcast and he was using McGregor lines at the press conference. I think this fight is probably going to be his biggest challenge yet and if he loses it it'll derail the hype train massively.
I'm sure they will make that title fight happen then. Probably Molly and Paddy fighting again as well.
Yeah, unfortunately it does seem like we've got a fighter trying to hard to be someone they aren't. I like Paddy, but he's much more tolerable on non fighting interviews, and podcasts. He seems pretty humble outside of the UFC, but obviously when it comes to the UFC he's trying so hard to be the next big thing; like Mcgregor. Obviously, Dana realises the potential, and is running with it. I'm sure they will make that title fight happen then. Probably Molly and Paddy fighting again as well.
Although, I must say this match up is a risky one from Dana, I think Gordon is underestimated by a lot of fans.
Dana is desperate for him to be the next McGregor as his time is nearly up if it isn't already so the UFC needs another superstar that grabs the headlines. The thing is, Paddy doesn't need to do this as he already gets numbers so he should just continue being himself. Dana has shown the numbers/views he gets on social media and it dwarfs most other fighters so there's no need to follow the Connor blueprint. I don't even mind him doing that if he's original but he was literally using Connor's lines almost verbatim which was cringe as was him licking Dana's arse at every opportunity.
I am serious. Fighters can greatly improve their stamina with that mountain air, train with best wrestlers, then go back to US or Thailand and train few weeks of striking and that is it