Paddy Pimblett has been the talk of the town this week for his upcoming clash with Jared Gordon later tonight (Sat., Dec. 10, 2022) at UFC 282 live on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, but the extra media attention has presented “Baddy” with more chances to put his foot in his mouth.
While Pimblett has been asked a variety of questions this past week as he prepares to make his PPV debut in UFC 282’s co-main event it was interesting to hear his take on Charles Oliveira’s recent submission loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi. Pimblett competes in the same lightweight division and was a major supporter of Oliveira leading up to the massive 155-pound clash.
Unfortunately for Oliveira, Makhachev was too much to handle at UFC 280. It resulted in Oliveira’s first loss since 2017 and it also left his supporters wondering what went wrong. This includes Pimblett, who believes he would have put up a better fight than “Do Bronx.”
“I got so much stick for picking Charles against Islam, which is crazy because a lot of people picked Charles but still on social media posts and stuff oh you picked Charles. Yeah, cause Charles had fought the better people and I thought Charles was going to win,” said Pimblett during UFC 282’s media day earlier this week. “Can’t I have a prediction anymore? People saying you haven’t given props to Islam, I have. He looked unbelievable that night, he absolutely dominated Charles. I would’ve put up a better fight that night than Charles did, to be honest.”
Pimblett, 27, is currently 3-0 as a member of the UFC lightweight division, but the rising English fighter hasn’t fought anyone of serious note. Oliveira, on the other hand, has been spanking the best lightweights in the world for years. It’s unlikely that “Baddy” would have fought better against a straight killer like Makhachev.
That said, Pimblett will have his chance to improve his UFC resume this weekend in a matchup against Gordon and push his way towards the lightweight top 15. At that point, we’ll find out if Pimblett is as high caliber as Oliveira, or anybody else ranked in the division.
What say you, Maniacs? Would Pimblett have fought better against Makhachev than Oliveira did?
Let’s hear it!
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 282 fight card right HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard (on ESPN2/ESPN+) at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.