Paddy Pimblett Says He Wants to Sign New UFC Contract: 'Pinnacle of the Sport'

Paddy Pimblett's fight against Bobby Green at UFC 304 later this month is the final fight on his contract, but if he has it his way, he won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

Pimblett told TMZ that he hopes to sign a new deal with the UFC at some point soon, saying, "I want to be in the UFC, the pinnacle of the sport. No other MMA promotion comes near it."

There had been some buzz that Pimblett could be open to leaving the UFC after he expressed an openness to the possibility of a big-money boxing match.

"Some of these stupid YouTubers who are boxing could end up offering me millions to fight one of them," he told Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie recently (11:07 mark). "So we'll see what happens."

However, Pimblett shut down those rumors while speaking to TMZ, clarifying that he has no intentions of leaving the top MMA promotion in the world today.

"I said something in an interview the other day, and they put it out of context and put a post up like I wanted to leave the UFC," he said. "It's crazy how people don't actually listen to the interview and just jump on that one little thing that's being posted."

Pimblett's fight against Green at the July 27 pay-per-view event will be his first appearance in the Octagon since he defeated Tony Ferguson by unanimous decision at UFC 296 in December. The 29-year-old Liverpool native has won five straight fights since joining the UFC in 2021, and he will be looking to put on a show in front of his home fans at UFC 304 in Manchester, England.

"It's nice to be local," he told TMZ. "It's nice to be back home. Even the shows we've done in the past they've been in London, which is like a four-hour car journey away. Manchester is like 30 minutes."

A win against Green could put Pimblett on track to contending for the lightweight title in the near future, so the UFC likely will be motivated to get a new deal done with him shortly after UFC 304.