"I wasn't impressed by his skill set" - Sean O'Malley believes Paddy Pimblett will lose against ranked opponents
Sean O'Malley and Paddy Pimblett, two of the biggest surging prospects in the UFC, are already trading verbal jabs.
Although they are separated by two weight classes, O'Malley and Pimblett have not shied away from dismissing each other's skill set.
In the latest episode of the TimboSugarShow, O'Malley made sure to fire back at Pimblett, who had previously criticized his grappling. 'Sugar' said 'The Baddy' would come up short if he was asked to lock horns with a ranked UFC opponent.
"I wonder how they bring him (Pimblett) up. Do they do him similar to me? Let him fight cans for seven years, eight years, nine years, or they give him a top guy? I feel like top-10 guys beat him... top-15, maybe?" Said Sean O'Malley.
The UFC bantamweight added that he wasn't impressed with Pimblett's promotional debut against Luigi Vendramini last weekend. However, O'Malley acknowledged that the Liverpudlian is definitely good enough to compete in the UFC.
"I wasn't impressed by his skill set. I wasn't like, 'damn, this dude is fu****g good'. He is definitely good, he is in the UFC, he belongs there, he beat a guy, but I don't know. We'll see. We'll just have to see how it plays out. I'll be watching him. I'm gonna fu****g watch his next fight for sure."
Watch Sean O'Malley talk about Paddy Pimblett in the video below (from 14:05):
Sean O'Malley thinks Paddy Pimblett is "talking bad" about him to gain publicity
During his interview with MMA On Point earlier this year, Paddy Pimblett called Sean O'Malley a "tool." He also gave him flak for not accepting his only loss to Marlon Vera at UFC 252.
Responding to Pimblett's statements, O'Malley said the former Cage Warriors champion was badmouthing him to gain publicity. According to 'Sugar', that shows 'The Baddy' knows how to market himself on MMA's biggest stage.
O'Malley's last fight was against Kris Moutinho at UFC 264. He sustained heavy damage to his knuckles from punching the promotional newcomer. He believes it will keep him out of action until December.