Paddy The Baddy Explains Which He'd Rather Be- A UFC Champion or A Fan Favorite/PPV Superstar

The question constantly gets brought up in sports whether you’d rather have the career of a role player who’s wins championships or a superstar player who never gets a ring. The most common example in my opinion is in basketball and is usually would you rather have the career of Robert Horry (7x NBA Champion but a role player) or a Charles Barkley (11x NBA All-Star and 1x MVP but no championships). To each his own but I think the correct answer has gotta be Charles Barkley. Give me the max contracts and leaving a legacy as one of the best basketball players of all time. It may sound like “loser“ talk to some but it’s not like the guy wasn’t busting his ass trying to win championships. He just lived through a tough era with the GOAT winning 6 of them in his prime while Hakeem snagged the other two in between. 

I thought it was an interesting question to pose to a UFC fighter where circumstances are very different in a variety of ways. Obviously it’s an individual sport but winning championship fights doesn’t always come with the most money and recognition behind it. In the MMA world you can become a fan favorite and PPV draw through you’re social media marketing/ fighting style in the cage. Guys like Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz are massive PPV draws without ever getting their hands on a UFC championship belt. This week proves that more than ever with a main event PPV fight that has no belt on the line but I guarantee will do more PPV buys than a ton of other title fight main events this year. Guys like Masvidal and Diaz have reached a level where they have negotiated PPV points into their contract (they get a percentage of every PPV buy). I’m intrigued to hear this answer from many different UFC fighters but Paddy especially fits the bill as someone with a massive following that doesn’t necessarily match his credentials in the UFC octagon yet. I loved his answer because even though he said he’d rather have the belt, it was the kind of self confidence in his answer that has made him a star even with only one fight in the UFC. Now if you can obtain both, you become Conor McGregor, one of the most rich and famous athletes on planet earth. For someone like Paddy the Baddy, that’s the end goal.

If you didn’t notice by the format of that clip Robbie Fox and myself have started a brand new MMA show called Spinnin Backfist. It’ll be out every Thursday previewing the fights with amazing guests and breakdowns of the fights/picks and then a recap show on Mondays. Watch it here and have a great weekend. I gave out some heater picks on the show that I love for tomorrow‘s card.