Can Paddy Pimblett reach the heights of UFC megastar Conor McGregor?
‘The Baddy’ took another big step toward superstardom at UFC 314, scoring a dominant third-round TKO over ex-Bellator champion ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler inside the Kaseya Center in Miami. The win moved Pimblett to a perfect 7-0 under the UFC banner and into the lightweight top 10, moving up four spots to overtake the No. 8 slot in the rankings.
Not only that, but the win likely put the Liverpudlian one fight away from his first shot at UFC gold.
Looking back on Pimblett’s impressive performance in ‘The 305,’ Chael Sonnen wondered out loud whether or not ‘The Baddy’ can achieve the same level of fame that McGregor did, or become a cultural phenomenon like the late great Kimbo Slice.
“Can he get there, to that thing McGregor possessed? It’s such a rare bar,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “Conor McGregor and Kimbo Slice were able to transcend cultures. They’re the only two in MMA history. Paddy already brings a nation with him.
“He’s already lining up jumbo jets and filling arenas. He got the loudest pop of the night in Miami. He is over as a monetizable, box office draw, and they haven’t even main evented him yet.”
Islam Makhachev’s coach thinks Paddy pimblett is ready for a title shot right now
While Pimblett likely has a little more work to do before getting his first crack at Islam Makhachev’s lightweight title, the Dagestani’s coach, Javier Mendez, believes that Pimblett is ready for the main event spotlight right now.
“Paddy is ready to face anybody,” Mendez said on his Javier & Mo Show podcast. “I mean what he’s done already, his credentials and his winning record in the UFC, his hype, and what he can do. If they give him the next title shot, he deserves it.”
“Let’s see who they give him next, but is he worthy? Yes. He’s very interesting. He’s got all of England behind him and a lot of America behind him. He has a lot of fans. I’m a fan. I wasn’t a fan in the beginning when he fought Jared Gordon.”
Following his win over Chandler, ‘The Baddy’ called for a slew of top lightweight contenders, including Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, or Charles Oliveira. However, a scrap with top-ranked contender Arman Tsarukyan seems to be the frontrunner for fight fans after the pair went back and forth in interviews and on social media recently.
