Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett and Michael Chandler faced off for the first time ahead of their huge lightweight fight at UFC 314 on April 12.
After going on an incredibly impressive six fight win streak which saw him choke out Bobby Green at UFC 304 last July, Paddy Pimblett was given his biggest fight of his career thus far, against former title challenger, Michael Chandler.
Pimblett’s performance against Green resulted in high praise from the likes of Israel Adesanya as on paper, it was certainly his toughest test and he passed with flying colors.
Chandler has warned Pimblett that he will take his ‘frustration’ out on him in Miami after his disappointing loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC 309 last November.
Paddy Pimblett names three-man hitlist as he outlines title plan
Ahead of UFC 313 this weekend in Las Vegas, the promotion put on a press conference to promote the blockbuster UFC 314 event, which will be headlined by Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes.
During the press conference, it became clear that Pimblett and Chandler share a mutual respect for each other and are both looking to give the fans their money’s worth come April 12.
With this being ‘The Baddy’s’ first top 10 ranked opponent, there is potential that with an impressive with over the 38-year-old, he could enter the title conversation at 155lbs.
Current champion, Islam Makhachev continues to seek out new contenders after breaking the record for the most title defenses in the division’s history earlier this year with a win over Renato Moicano.
The lightweight division was made stronger recently when featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria, announced that he will be moving up to the division permanently after Topuria vacated his 145lb title.
Topuria and Pimblett have a well-documented hatred for each other after the two clashed at UFC London in 2022, sparking the beginning of their rivalry.
Ahead of UFC 314, the Brit has revealed that he would like to fight ‘El Matador’ on his pursuit of the lightweight title, outling his path to the belt.
“(I’d rather see) Islam Makhachev (holding the belt), I don’t think (Topuria) gets near him,” Pimblett said at the UFC 314 press conference this past Friday.
“After I beat Chandler I’d love to fight Ilia next but we’ll see what happens. I’d love to fight (Dustin) Poirier, I’d love to fight (Charles) Oliveira, I just wanna fight someone who will get me a title fight because obviously that’s what we do this for,” he continued.
Could Paddy Pimblett offer a threat to Islam Makhachev?
Throughout his title reign so far, Makhachev has looked untouchable, even to the point that he has taken the pound-for-pound number one spot with relative ease.
With the Russian champion’s bread and butter being his grappling and wrestling, it seems as though it will need to be an elite striker to cause him any sort of problems.
Pimblett doesn’t exactly offer that threat, despite being an unorthodox striker on the feet, but he does offer the submission threat on the ground.
Despite that, the 30-year-old’s performance against Chandler will show exactly where the Brit fits in the lightweight title picture.