The former UFC middleweight champion wants the ‘Baddy’ to understand that his next opponent isn’t going to be an easy fight.
Paddy Pimblett has quickly made himself on of the UFC’s must-see attractions. The former Cage Warriors champion has started his Octagon career with three straight stoppage victories and it seems as though big things could be in store for the Next Gen MMA talent.
To that end, Pimblett’s next fight—against Jared Gordon—is set to serve as the co-main event of UFC 282, the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for Dec. 10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. As expected, the ‘Baddy’ is oozing confidence ahead of his fight against ‘Flash,’ who he expects to finish inside of a round.
The Liverpudlian has eleven first round finishes in his career to date—including two in the UFC—but Bisping suggests Gordon may be a different story. In his preview of the upcoming fight, the former UFC middleweight champion explained that the Sanford MMA fighter is a step up in competition; a seasoned UFC veteran with enough tools to pose a threat to Pimblett.
“I think it might be a tougher matchup than what Paddy thinks,” said Bisping on his official YouTube channel. “I think Paddy potentially is underestimating him. Now when I say underestimating him, I don’t mean that he’s taking it easy, and he’s kicking back in training, and he’s not pushing himself to the limit, and all the rest of it. Paddy has got eyes on being the champion. Paddy is pushing himself to the absolute goddamn limit because the opponent right now isn’t Jared Gordon. The opponent is the mission. The opponent is this journey, this wave that he wants to ride towards being a UFC champion, a legend in the sport, a Hall of Famer, and, of course, retiring with millions and millions and millions of dollars in the bank. As I say, being a legend.
“He’s not underestimating or undertraining, should I say, but he might be mentally underestimating,” continued Bisping. “He says he’s going to knock him out in the first round. I don’t know about that. I honestly don’t think he will knock him out inside the first round, but this is going to be a tough fight. Jared Gordon’s no walk in the park.”
In his past five appearances, Gordon went 4-1, with his only loss coming to Grant Dawson at UFC Vegas 53 in April.
UFC 282 is headlined by a light heavyweight championship fight between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev.