Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett entered the UFC with a huge fanbase. The 27-year-old had two UFC showings. In both, he struggled during round 1 before impressive comebacks. He had knocked out Luigi Vendramini back in 2021 and has submitted Kazula Vargas this past weekend. Talking about the results of UFC London, the UFC veteran refree John McCarthy blamed the promotion for giving Pimblett easy opponents.
Outside the UFC, Pimblett had plenty of experience and has a record of 16-3. Much like Conor McGregor, Pimblett was a Cage warriors champion prior to getting to the UFC.
John McCarthy believes Pimblett’s previous opponents are way better than the two UFC fighters he exchanged blows in the octagon. During his recent appearance on the Weighing In podcast with Josh Thomson, John McCarthy gave his opinion on the rising star.
“I understand why they put him against someone like Rodrigo Vargas, an older fighter. I’m not a Paddy hater. I love when you have a guy like Paddy who talks the way he does, who has that game. If you want to talk about how great you are, I want to see you against other great fighters.” – McCarthy said.
John McCarthy understands that Pimblett needs to prove himself. But he also thinks he should get a way more capable opponent.
“I just want to see him against better competition. I’ve seen him against better competition in Cage Warriors than I’m seeing him in competition in the UFC. Tell me I’m lying.” McCarthy added.
Josh Thomson has a different opinion. Thomson believes the UFC is doing the right thing by giving Pimblett opportunities to build himself up.
As for his next match, Pimblett has stated that he will not be matched up with the top 15 lightweight contenders until the UFC offers him a better contract. Illia Topuria is also off the list as Pimblett said he won’t be settling their beef inside the octagon. The three possible names in contention are Terrance McKinney, Renato Moicano and Joel Alvarez.