The Scouse superstar isn’t necessarily looking past UFC 304, but ‘The Baddy’ knows that a big win could kickstart an iconic title run.
Paddy Pimblett finally returns to action at UFC 304 next weekend to face veteran lightweight, the now-legally named, ‘King’ Green – and if ‘The Baddy’ gets his way, the highly anticipated homecoming clash will be the first of just four fights he’ll need to win en route to a title shot.
- Who is Paddy Pimblett? Get to know the ‘baddy’ of MMA who is making his presence felt in UFC
Paddy Pimblett lays out his fight-by-fight path to a UFC title shot
Should Pimblett earn that statement win in front of his home crowd at UFC 304, he’ll likely take Green’s place as the #15 ranked lightweight, opening doors to much bigger fights and much larger potential paydays later down the line.
Speaking to New York Post Sports, Pimblett laid out his ideal path to eventually securing a shot at the UFC lightweight title with ‘The Baddy’ hinting that it’ll take him just four fights before he has the chance to claim undisputed glory.
“Well, obviously the fight with Bobby Green, then I fight [Renato] Moicano – Moicano’s ranked #10 at the minute but he’s fighting Saint-Denis so he could win or lose, he could end up going up or down.”
Moicano and Pimblett already have a history of calling each out both on social media and in the octagon, with ‘Money’ currently in training for a main event spot against the popular Frenchman at UFC Paris in September.
After defeating King Green and Renato Moicano in quick succession, Pimblett teased that the next fighter in his crosshairs will be none other than lightweight veteran, Beneil Dariush.
“But I’d love [to face] Moicano and then [fighting] Dariush would be perfect, he’s like rank seven or eight… I’d love to have a scrap with him because he’s another one of them who, he’s a very good grappler, but he’ll come out and have it [out] on the feet, his fight with Drakkar Klose, brilliant scrap.”
The fan-favorite veteran is currently riding a two-fight losing streak and despite being recently called out by Dan Hooker for a clash at UFC 305, ‘Benny’ doesn’t have his next fight officially signed.
Back to Pimblett, who explained that after he extends his own winning streak to 10, he’ll finally be just one fight away from getting a shot at the lightweight title.
“[After Dariush] and then someone in the top five, and then go for the belt [then] if possible.”
Pimblett reveals who he thinks will be UFC lightweight champion
Interestingly, ‘The Baddy’ also believes the man sitting atop the division, or at least someone who he expects to remain in the Top 5 fighters until he gets there, is the man who’s set to fight for the lightweight title next.
In a separate conversation with TMZSports, the Liverpudlian explained how out of the current Top 5, there’s only one fighter who he expects to still be active at the top of the division by the time he climbs the ladder – Arman Tsarukyan.
“By the time I reach the top 5, half of them are going to be retired; Poirier’s already talking about retirement, Gaethje already said he’d only have a couple more fights, Islam’s already said that he’ll only have a couple more title defenses.
“The only person in the top 5 who’s still going to be around is Arman [Tsarukyan] so he’s the main person who I’ve got to worry about.”
So, there we have it, Pimblett’s own route to the title; King Green, Renato Moicano, Beneil Darish, and then a Top 5 ranked opponent, potentially Arman Tsarukyan – a star-studded resume, should it play out how the Englishman hopes.
Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett vs King Green goes down live from the Co-op Arena in Manchester, England on July 27.