Last weekend was one of the biggest occasions in Paddy Pimblett‘s UFC career as he fought Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title. Although he missed out on making the most of the opportunity, Pimblett managed to make approximately $1.5 million through the fight. However, even this massive payday has taken a hit.

Pimblett started his journey with the UFC back in 2021. And by the time he faced Gaethje, he had an unblemished record of 7-0. Although he faced many well-known fighters such as Michael Chandler and Tony Ferguson, the UFC 324 fight paid him more than twice as much as he made from those bouts. Unfortunately for him, losing half of the fight purse adds to the string of his recent challenges.

Paddy Pimblett will lose half of his paycheck

According to Mirror, Paddy Pimblett will lose half of his UFC 324 paycheck in taxes. The payout he received from his fight against Justin Gaethje reportedly amounted to $1,532,000, which is the highest of his UFC career. Not only that, both Pimblett and Gaethje also took home $100,000 each as ‘Fight of the Night’ for their hard-fought five-round fight, which saw ‘The Highlight’ winning via unanimous decision.

Additionally, Pimblett suffered a lot of damage in the fight, for which he was immediately rushed to the hospital. And this eventually activated a clause laid out by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) to ensure fighters’ safety. It states that a fighter in Pimblett’s condition faces a minimum suspension of 30 days. Also, it can only be lifted after a medical examination by a doctor appointed by the Commission.

All these are some of the challenges that have been added to Pimblett’s life after UFC 324. He will surely look to survive this phase and come back stronger. But it will be interesting to see what lies ahead for the Scouser. While ‘Baddy’ received praise for his performance from some former MMA fighters, one of the UFC legends has shared his two cents on Pimblett’s future.

UFC commentator discusses Paddy Pimblett’s future

With a win over Justin Gaethje, Paddy Pimblett could have found himself in the discussions for the title unification fight against Ilia Topuria. And Pimblett was indeed expecting it to unfold that way and had even the odds favoring him to beat Gaethje. But the fight didn’t turn out as he expected. Although the results were against the Scouser, he moved many with his performance, including UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier.

“Very rarely does a guy elevate in a loss as much as I believe Paddy Pimblett will elevate in this loss. So many people wanted to call him a hype job… What I saw was a kid that has a big future, that has a ton of ability to really challenge the best fighters in the world. And he will do that consistently for a really, really long time,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel.

Cormier also encouraged Pimblett to not let demotivated by the loss against Gaethje: “I know Paddy was very disappointed, but he needs to keep his head up because I thought tonight he fought well. He represented himself, he represented his family, represented Liverpool very, very well inside the octagon. So, keep your head up Paddy Pimblett. That was title fight [No.] 1 of many that will come down the line.”

For now, Pimblett must undergo his suspension and recover from his injuries. Upon his return, a plethora of fight options may be available for him. But it will be interesting to see how long it will take the Scouser to get closer to a title fight again. On that note, who do you think Pimblett fights next? Let us know in the comments below!