Paulie is so desperate for the Conor fight. But I gotta hand it to him he's playing his cards right by keeping the narrative alive. Going to Bare Knuckle and slapping Artem was a good move to continue to tie his name with Conor.
All that it would take to kill this narrative is for the footage to be released. I think the only two reasons why the footage is not being released is:
1) Conor wants to keep the narrative alive because this is a potential money fight for him to make in the future. The footage not being released adds to the mystery and promotion of the potential fight and keeps Conor's name in the headlines every time something happens with Paulie. Also the footage would be a great marketing and narrative tool.
2) The footage that is out there doesn't fit Conor's narrative that Paulie got beat up. The footage would show that the fight was more competitive and would vindicate what Paulie has been saying all along.
I think all the signs point to 1) being the truth. Everyone who was at the sparring session said that Paulie got beat up and all the footage that we have says the same. Hell, we even have images of Paulie's busted up face after the spar and it's clear he was beat up so I gotta hand it to Conor.. he really has made the right move to not release the footage as it keeps the option open.