UFC bantamweight king Sean O’Malley believes it’s only a matter of time before Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett joins him as a world champion.
Only a handful of athletes from around the world know what it takes to become a UFC champion and in the case of Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett, he’s just received the seal of approval from one of the sport’s biggest superstars – Bantamweight king, ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley.
Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett is officially a ranked UFC fighter
Pimblett’s highly anticipated clash with King Green in Manchester was supposed to be his hardest test to date in the UFC octagon; yet you wouldn’t know that as the Liverpudlian delivered a career-best performance in front of a sell-out, if not sleepy, Co-op Arena crowd.
The Scouse superstar held his own on the feet and after the American shot a panic takedown, locked up an outstanding triangle choke just a few minutes into the opening round – not only did the performance earn him a sweet $200,000 bonus, but also a long-awaited spot in the Top 15.
- #10 – Renato Moicano
- #11 – Dan Hooker
- #12 – Benoit Saint-Denis
- #13 – Jalin Turner
- #14 – Rafael Dos Anjos
- #15 – Paddy Pimblett (Replaces King Green)
Following his first-round submission win, Pimblett called out Renato ‘Money’ Moicano – the Brazilian fan-favorite is currently booked against Saint-Denis for the main event of UFC Paris in September.
Sean O’Malley predicts Paddy Pimblett will be UFC champion one day
Aside from the $200,000 POTN bonus and Top 15 ranking, Pimblett has also received a poignant message of support from UFC bantamweight champion ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley.
“He’s 29 [years old] so he’s still young,” hailed O’Malley on the latest installment of the Timbo Sugar Show podcast, noting that Pimblett could indeed be just two wins away from a lightweight title shot.
“Bobby was ranked #15 and Renato is ranked #10 so you’re looking at two fights… If you beat Renato, you’d probably be ranked higher than #10 at that point, he might be just two fights away from a title shot.”
Whilst O’Malley warned that ‘Money’ Moicano is a challenging matchup for anyone in the lightweight division, he did also state that such a fight is definitely “winnable” for the Englishman as he chases UFC gold.
“Renato is a winnable fight for Paddy, tough fight but winnable fight and who knows who will be champ at that time – I predict that Paddy becomes UFC champion at some point in his career.
“There’s something about his confidence man, I feel like Paddy stole the show [at UFC 304], Paddy’s the headlines, doing the numbers and stole the show in my opinion.”
O’Malley isn’t the only one who thinks ‘Baddy’ is two away
Sean O’Malley certainly isn’t the only UFC icon who believes that Pimblett could be as little as two big wins away from earning a shot at the lightweight title – including the one and only Chael Sonnen.
During the ESPN MMA post-UFC 304 show, Sonnen would argue that with the two right opponents, we could see the British superstar fighting for the 155lb title very soon.
“Paddy The Baddy is two fights [away], now they’ve got to be the right two fights, but he is two fights away from fighting for a world championship.
“And not just a title fight where the UFC will want to use him cause he’s good for business, but a title fight where we [as pundits] are saying ‘Paddy The Baddy should be next’.”
“At 155lbs, do you know how big of a compliment that is? That’s the hardest division in our sport, that has always been the hardest division in our sport!”
Following the victory over King Green in Manchester, Pimblett moves to 22-3 as a professional and is undefeated in the UFC; with three wins via submission, two via decision, and one by knockout.