Paddy Pimblett will miss UFC 286 as he prepares for surgery
Paddy Pimblett looks set to undergo ankle surgery in March, which means he won't feature at UFC 286 in London. Pimblett sustained a leg injury in the first round of his last fight against Jared Gordon and is now set for a stint on the sidelines.
Pimblett is among the most popular fighters on the UFC roster, and is arguably the biggest star out of the U.K. alongside welterweight champion Leon Edwards. In a video posted to his YouTube channel, a doctor told 'The Baddy':
"It looks like you have got a small amount of cartilage lost in this bit, and that’s exactly where you’re sore. The other thing you’ve got is all this white stuff around here. That’s all fluid so that’s what the swelling is. Now when we look at your ligaments that joins from your fibula, which is this bone, you've probably got what we call a Grade 2 injury to that."
Watch Paddy Pimblett's latest vlog below:
Pimblett's narrow decision win over Jared Gordon drew widespread criticism from the MMA community. Most were of the opinion that Gordon deserved the judges' nod, but 'The Baddy' ultimately walked away with a unanimous decision win. He is now 4-0 in the UFC.
Terrance McKinney wants to face Paddy Pimblett
Terrance has been angling to face Paddy Pimblett for quite some time now. McKinney revealed that he expects the UFC to book him against Pimblett after he faces Ismael Bonfim at UFC 283.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, McKinney claimed that he expects Pimblett to be his next opponent. While he was initially expecting the bout to take place at UFC 286 in March, that appears to be off the table now that Pimblett is headed for surgery.
Foreseeing a fight against Pimblett in 2023, McKinney shared how he expects the bout to unfold:
"Just domination everywhere whether that's standing - I saw Jared [Gordon] outwrestle him, he couldn't really get any submissions off, and I got a bigger frame, I'm faster. So yeah, I see him getting killed, a lot of people looking sad. UFC, Dana sad. Me getting a bigger check. I see a lot of good things happening after I take him out in the first round."
Catch Terrance McKinney's comments below (50:35):