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Renato Moicano likes the idea of facing Paddy Pimblett after UFC 300, but wants the promotion to give his contract a bump to fight someone ranked lower at 155 pounds.
Moicano, who meets Jalin Turner this Saturday at UFC 300 in Las Vegas, said on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast that he would agree to an “easy fight” against the English sensation on a UFC pay-per-view in Manchester later this year. But after defeating Turner at UFC 300, Moicano knows taking on Pimblett won’t help his pursuit of title contention other than garnering him some hype and money.
“We’ll have to make some changes,” Moicano said of the monetary aspect of his UFC deal. “How is it going to be? Is it on pay-per-view? We’re going to have to bump up the purse. We’ll bring in the numbers. If I fight him in Manchester, we’ll bring in the numbers and people will watch. ‘Is Paddy Pimblett all that hype? Can he beat a top-15 [fighter]?’
“We’ll have the numbers, so let’s see if the money will be right. We can’t do like [Donald] Cerrone who said he fought [Conor] McGregor for $200,000. I’m not comparing myself to Cerrone nor [Pimblett] to McGregor, but if there are people willing to pay, there are people willing to get paid.”
Moicano explained he’s not unhappy with his current purse, adding he’s making “more [money] than people think” to compete against the likes of Drew Dober and Turner, but “there are different levels.”
“Plenty of people want to see Jalin Turner, but way more people want to see Paddy Pimblett,” Moicano said. “It’s all about the numbers. We’re going to have to look at the numbers and sit down with the UFC and negotiate and see what makes sense. I’m giving up an opportunity to fight someone ranked higher, a fight that will get me closer to the title, to fight someone ranked lower, although with more hype.
“I’m denying something to gain something else, so the monetary compensation has to be higher because there’s demand for it. People will want to watch that, so the UFC will have to send me more money.”
Moicano joked that “tough guy” Pimblett only called him out after the UFC announced his April 13 match with Turner, but issued the Englishman a warning.
“Paddy Pimblett is f*****,” Moicano said. “If I fight him, I’ll do something that was never done before. I’ll spank him like a child. [Laughs.] You can’t spank kids, by the way. But I’ll beat him up good.”
The American Top Team lightweight sees merit to Pimblett’s hype, however not due to his skills, but rather Pimblett’s charisma and other factors.
Moicano, nonetheless, vows to show Pimblett that he doesn’t belong in the top 15.
“It’s hard for him to beat a top-15 [contender],” Moicano said. “A fight is a fight and you can fight anyone at any given time and lose. Paddy Pimblett is not the best fighter in the world — by far — but he’s a fighter. He’s a professional fighter who has fights and has beaten people — mostly robbed, but he has beaten some. Some [of his opponents] are bad too, but I respect him. I respect any person that enters an octagon to fight professionally, so he has my respect for that, but he won’t get past the first round.”
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