Paddy Pimblett says he could see himself boxing under the Misfits banner someday. He just wants to get paid like it.
The 31-year-old Liverpool lightweight showed up at a Misfits Boxing event in London, where Gunman Boxing asked him whether he could take out the promotion’s entire roster in a single night. Pimblett didn’t need long to think about it. “Obviously,” he said. “Of course, I could.”
The follow-up was the question that mattered: would he ever actually fight for the crossover outfit? “You never know,” Pimblett said. “We’ll see if the money’s right in a couple of years.”
There’s no contract, no date and no opponent. What he gave was a UFC star with a huge following telling an influencer promotion exactly what it would cost to get his attention, and the price is a very large check.
The timing makes the comment worth more than a shrug. Misfits just landed Michael “Venom” Page, who signed a multi-fight, multi-year deal after going 5-1 in the UFC and leaving on a four-fight win streak. The road out of the Octagon and into that ring has fresh footprints on it.
Pimblett’s 2026 has been busy. In January at UFC 324, he fought Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title at T-Mobile Arena (yes, another interim belt) and lost a unanimous decision after five hard rounds. It was the first loss of his UFC career. He went back to the same building on July 12 for UFC 329 and beat Benoit Saint Denis.
The title is still the priority, and he’s been clear about who he wants. He told Kolos MMA that since he wants to be world champion, he’d pick Gaethje, but if there were no belt on the line with any of them, Topuria is the man he wants to beat.
That Topuria grudge goes back to UFC London in 2022, when the two nearly came to blows at the fighter hotel while both were booked on separate fights that night. They still haven’t fought. Both came out of 2026 with setbacks against Gaethje, who is now weighing his future at the top of the division. If Gaethje sticks around into 2027, Arman Tsarukyan is expected to be in the mix for a title shot.
Jorge Masvidal, who knows a thing or two about selling pay-per-views, told Full Mount MMA that Pimblett vs. Topuria needs no belt. “This is the biggest fight you can make,” Masvidal said. “Paddy is a star in America; this dude would sell out T-Mobile Arena in America.” He pointed to Topuria’s following across Latin America and added: “You put both of these guys together; numbers-wise, this is the biggest fight the UFC can make.”
My take: Pimblett answered a fan-friendly question straight, which I’ll always respect, and he attached a real number to it in the form of a calendar. “A couple of years” puts any Misfits fight well after the title run he’s openly chasing. If Masvidal is even half right, the fattest check on Pimblett’s horizon has Topuria’s name on it, and that one doesn’t require him to lace up 10-ounce gloves.
