Logan Paul isn’t committed to taking an MMA fight just yet, but if he does, he knows who he’d like it to be against.
Paul has become a notable figure in combat sports circles over the past few years for his forays into the world of boxing, including an high-profile exhibition bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr. last year, and this past weekend, taking part in a match at Wrestlemania. Recently though, Paul has teased that he may try his hand at MMA, and both UFC President Dana White and Bellator CEO Scott Coker have shown some interest in giving the YouTuber/podcaster a shot. In March, White even went on Paul’s podcast where he was at least open to the idea of giving Paul a shot. And now Paul has a name in mind for if it does happen: Paddy Pimblett.
“I’d like a run at it. I’d like a win in some sort of a fighting, combat sport,” Paul told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “I think I’d be good at it, too. But then again, bro, I’m like, okay, do I f****** go and get my head kicked in or wrestle and have so much more fun. My friends, before the Wrestlemania match, they’re like, ‘Hey, good luck!’ and I’m like, ‘Enjoy the show!’ Before a boxing match it’s like, ‘I love you, brother. You can do anything you want.’ They’re praying for me backstage, my heart’s pounding. It’s a f****** headache! It’s crazy, the difference between a boxing event and a wrestling event, so I don’t know, bro. But I found out who I’d like to fight if I did a UFC match: Paddy the Baddy.”
Pimblett is one of the rising stars in the UFC at the moment. The 27-year old Liverpudlian made his UFC debut this past fall, stopping Luigi Vendramini in the first round and securing a Performance of the Night bonus. Pimblett then followed that up with a first-round submission of Rodrigo Vargas at UFC London, taking home another Performance of the Night bonus and stirring the British fans at the O2 Arena into a frenzy. Given the amount of hype he currently has, Paul thinks Pimblett would be a good match up.
“They’re saying he’s possibly the next Conor McGregor, right?” Paul said. “He’s super charismatic, he’s entertaining as hell, he’s on the come up, he’s young like me, he’s got a real loud mouth. I just like the way he can perform. I think also, in the off season, he can come up like 25 pounds. The kid blows up in the off season, I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s like someone put a pump in him and [blows him up]. So he can get up to 185 and I can get down to 185 and possibly do a UFC match.”
Paul made it clear that he has no personal issue with Pimblett, and that he would even like to have “The Baddy” on his podcast in the future. Paul simply believes that, given his own level of star power, Pimblett would present the most bang for his buck.
“[Dana White] asked me who I’d want to fight and I didn’t have anyone in mind, and now I’m looking at it and I’m like, okay, if I were to do a UFC fight, it needs to be with someone who can sell tickets,” Paul said. “Paddy can sell, we’ve seen how he can activate crowds, and he’s still relatively new, he’s young, he’s entertaining. I just think the fans would eat that s*** up.”