3 reasons why Paddy Pimblett may not make it to the top of the UFC
This weekend sees the UFC’s latest Fight Night card take place in Las Vegas, and this one has a distinctly European flavor. Not only is British star Darren Till fighting in the main event, but other UK-based fighters are competing on the card – including hot prospect Paddy Pimblett.
Paddy Pimblett will make his octagon debut this weekend against Luigi Vendramini – so can this charismatic prospect make it to the top of the UFC?
It’s likely that the UFC will give Paddy Pimblett every chance to succeed in the octagon. After all, ‘The Baddy’ is hugely charismatic and knows how to work the microphone, garnering comparisons to Conor McGregor at times.
He also fights in a highly exciting and aggressive style, and has an excellent MMA record of 16-3, put together mainly in the strong Cage Warriors promotion.
However, UFC fans expecting Pimblett to immediately shoot up to the top of the promotion may well be getting ahead of themselves. It’s a tricky task for any fighter to achieve, and ‘The Baddy’ may not be up for it.
Here are three reasons why Paddy Pimblett may not make it to the top of the UFC.
#3. Paddy Pimblett has never really beaten a high-end UFC-level fighter
Paddy Pimblett’s record – as well as his charisma and mic skills – definitely warrant him a spot on the UFC’s roster. However, despite his 16-3 ledger looking impressive on paper, the truth is that ‘The Baddy’ has yet to really prove himself against a high-end UFC-level fighter.
Paddy Pimblett has fought just three UFC veterans thus far into his career: Cameron Else, Nad Narimani and Julian Erosa. And while he defeated Erosa handily in probably the best performance of his career, he came up short against Else and Narimani.
It’s probably fair to discount the loss to Else at this stage, as it happened in 2013 when Pimblett was just 19 years old. However, the fact remains that despite the hype around him, he’s still hugely unproven against top level opponents.
Sure, you could argue that the same could’ve been said for Conor McGregor or Khamzat Chimaev before their respective UFC debuts. Neither man had ever fought a UFC veteran – let alone defeated one. But they quickly proved that they belonged in the big time.
But while Pimblett could well follow in their footsteps, there’s also a chance that he will instead follow the path of other highly touted prospects like Wagner Prado, Papy Abedi and Konstantin Erokhin.
All three of those fighters arrived in the UFC with plenty of fanfare and gaudy records – but simply couldn’t get the job done against top level opponents.
Which path Paddy Pimblett ends up on is obviously a question mark right now, but given how unproven he is, it’s hard to proclaim that he’ll follow in McGregor’s footsteps at this point.
#2. Paddy Pimblett appears to struggle with strong wrestlers
Paddy Pimblett has become a massively popular fighter in the UK over the past few years. And while a lot of this has to do with his charisma, likeability and skills on the microphone, his fighting style helps too.
Pimblett is primarily a grappler, although he’s perfectly happy to throw down with an opponent on the feet. But the main thing marking him out of the majority of his peers is his hyperactive aggression.
‘The Baddy’ never seems to stop attacking when he’s inside the cage, and this tendency alone has led to plenty of his biggest victories. In fact, of his 16 career wins thus far, just four have gone the distance, with the other 12 ending via submission or knockout.
However, based on what we’ve seen from him in Cage Warriors, Pimblett does have a large hole in his game – namely, his takedown defense and wrestling.
‘The Baddy’ is an excellent grappler from a submission standpoint, and any fighter taking him to the ground clearly needs to be careful. In his losses to Nad Narimani and Soren Bak, though, the Liverpool native showed a worrying tendency to find himself on the bottom, unable to get his offense going.
In both fights, this led to a defeat, even if he wasn’t finished by either man. And that’s worrying for his prospects in the UFC.
The world’s biggest MMA promotion has always been home to the best wrestlers in the sport. The UFC lightweight division contains some of the best, including former Olympian Mark Madsen and legendary former NCAA Division I champion Gregor Gillespie.
Right now, neither of those men are amongst the top five in the division – meaning that Paddy Pimblett would need to get past the likes of them to make it to the top. And based on what we’ve seen so far, there’s no guarantee that he’s capable of that.
#1. Paddy Pimblett will be competing in one of the UFC’s most loaded divisions
Perhaps the biggest thing that’s likely to prevent Paddy Pimblett from ascending to the top of the UFC is the fact that he fights in arguably the promotion’s most loaded weight class, lightweight.
The UFC’s 155-pound division has always been stacked with incredibly talented fighters, and the landscape right now is no exception.
The likes of UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler and Islam Makhachev currently sit near the top of the division.
But while every division has dangerous fighters ranked in the top ten, the UFC’s 155-pound roster includes some tremendous unranked fighters, too. Names include veterans like Clay Guida and Jim Miller, as well as hot prospects like Mateusz Gamrot, Grant Dawson and Damir Ismagulov.
Basically, there are no easy fights at lightweight – and the same could be said if Pimblett were to drop to 145 pounds, as the UFC featherweight division is nearly as stacked.
If Paddy Pimblett wants to get to the top of the UFC, then, he’ll have to fight his way through an absolute murderer’s row of dangerous opponents – all of whom will be just as desperate to make it to the top.
It’s a tough ask for any fighter to pull it off, even one as talented as ‘The Baddy’.