Lightweight prospect Luigi Vendramini plans to take advantage of Paddy Pimblett’s hype at UFC Vegas 36.
In a battle of lightweight prospects, the less known one hopes to steal his opponent’s place in the spotlight with a highlight reel win.
Paired up against former Cage Warriors champion Paddy Pimblett, Luigi Vendramini expects to give the ‘Baddy’ a rough welcome to the UFC and become the next big thing in the division.
In an interview with Combate, Vendramini praised Pimblett for his ability to promote himself on social media, but did not have much to say about his fighting skills. While Luigi does not have such a strong internet presence as Paddy, he hopes that a memorable win at UFC Vegas 36 will do all the talking he needs.
“I see that he doesn’t really follow a pattern, he comes at you with a random gameplan,” Vendramini said. “He takes you down, he trades shots, he jumps, he throws some weird kicks. I’d like to be the guy who promotes himself, but I can’t. I have a hard time taking pictures with fans, My Instagram pictures are all of myself, while I’m not really paying attention. He’s the other way around. He has several sponsors, he knows how to talk. I admire that.
“This is not Big Brother, though, right? This is fighting,” Luigi continued. “I think he’s going to lose and he’s going to get a reality check. I’m going to take his reputation down a few notches. I’m going to be humble out there, I know I’m going to win because I’m more prepared. I’m not worried about the hype that is around him. I’m going to knock him out and I’m going to be a life lesson for him. I’ll show him this no amusement park. I want to knock him out or submit him, because he’s a jiu-jitsu guy and he thinks he has good jiu-jitsu. I’ll show him jiu-jitsu is not English, it’s Brazilian.”
In his last outing, Vendramini (9-2) lost a majority decision to Fares Ziam, back in June. The win came right after Luigi’s sole Octagon win so far, a TKO victory against Jessin Ayari last October. In September 2018, the 25-year-old suffered his first ever professional loss in his UFC debut, when he faced Elizeu Zaleski on short notice and got knocked out.
Now, Vendramini is expected to take on Pimblett at UFC Vegas 36, on September 4, at the UFC Apex, in Las Vegas. The card is scheduled to be headlined by a middleweight bout between contenders Darren Till and Derek Brunson.