What’s Next for Paddy Pimblett?
Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett is no longer just a hype train - he’s a legit player in the UFC’s Lightweight Division. At UFC 314, Pimblett silenced many critics with a dominant third-round TKO over Michael Chandler, his biggest test to date. In Pimblett’s recent fights, some questioned if he had what it took to rise to the ranks of the Lightweight Division. Now, with a 7-0 record in the UFC, and his best performance, he’s made it clear: he’s here to chase gold. Pimblett improved his game seemingly everywhere with sharper boxing, tighter defense, and more poise.
With that win, Pimblett jumped into the top 10 of the Lightweight rankings - officially listed at number eight as of this week. Pimblett called out essentially everyone in the top five on the mic after his win, “I want… Dustin, Justin, Charles, or Arman.” While fights with these four would be cool, I don’t think that is what’s next for Pimblett. Dustin Poirer has already shut down a fight with Pimblett and is rumored to be fighting Max Holloway for his retirement fight. Justin Gaethje has his eyes set on a title shot before he ages out of his prime. Charles Oliveira is rumored to fight against Ilia Topuria in his Lightweight debut, and Arman Tsarukyan seems too high up the rankings for the matchup to make sense. While Tsarukyan and Pimblett do have beef with each other, I don’t see the fight happening.
What’s most likely next for Pimblett is a matchup against someone closer ranked to him. It could be Renato Moicano, who is ranked at number 10 - the two have a history and want to fight each other. It could be number nine, Beneil Dariush, who Pimblett mentioned wanting to fight before. However, with Pimblett wanting to chase the title something tells me he will only want to fight up the rankings. This leaves us with two opponents, the seventh-ranked Mateusz Gamrot who would be an interesting stylistic matchup for Pimblett with his ability to grapple. The last viable option for Pimblett is the sixth-ranked Dan Hooker, who always puts on a war for the fans. I think Pimblett will try and get a fight with Hooker sometime later this year and look to capitalize off the success from that and call for a title fight.
