Manchester, England – July 27: England's Paddy Pimblett prepares for the match against King Green … [+]
It was an eventful UFC 304 weekend for Paddy Pimblett.
The 29-year-old Pimbrett signed a new six-fight contract with UFC the day before his UFC 304 fight against Bobby King Green. Then, on fight day in Manchester, Pimbrett submitted Green via triangle choke in the first round, rendering him unconscious. After the fight, UFC CEO Dana White awarded Pimbrett a $200,000 fight-day bonus. With his dominant win over Green, Pimbrett will secure a spot in the top 15 of the UFC lightweight division when UFC releases its latest rankings.
Pimbret confidently opened his post-fight interview with UFC commentator Daniel Cormier by declaring, “The statement's out, motherfucker.”
With the win, Pimblett improves to 6-0 in UFC.
The former Cage Warriors champion has been a bit of an enigma since signing with UFC in 2021. Pimbret made easy work of his first three fights under the UFC banner, earning stoppage wins and “Performance of the Night” bonuses over Luigi Vendramini, Rodrigo Vargas and Jordan Leavitt. That's not to say those bouts went perfectly for Pimbret, but he dominated his opponents.
Pimblett's rise seemed to slow down a bit since his unanimous decision win over Jared Gordon in December 2022, and continued after his decision win over Tony Ferguson in December 2023. After all, Ferguson had lost six straight fights, including four by stoppage, before Pimblett defeated him by unanimous decision.
That train was back on the fast track after UFC 304, and for good reason: Pimblett showed superior situational awareness against Green, turning a big miss by Green into a takedown attempt and a highlight-stopping finish.
Pimblett went for a guillotine as soon as Green got to his feet, and from there the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt transitioned to a triangle choke, which he held until he put the lights out on Green at 3:22 of the first round.
Why Green would take down a superior grappler like Pimblett with a takedown when neither man was ready to fight is a mystery, but he did it — and paid the price for his arrogance, losing the fight and losing his No. 15 ranking in the process.
Pimblett deserves to celebrate after Saturday's big win, but once the celebrations are over and he and his team get back to work, he still has some questions to answer.
Now that he's likely to be ranked, opponents will be looking to raise their own level with a win over a fighter who is a star, at least in his native Britain, and they will be looking to see if they can exploit any perceived weaknesses in Pimblett's game.
The biggest problem Pimblett faces has to do with an issue that has plagued him throughout his career: his striking style. Pimblett isn't a bad striker, but he keeps his chin exposed and his hands low. This was especially evident in his fight with Gordon, where Gordon landed 58% of his significant strikes and Ferguson landed 59% of his significant strikes. Don't think for a second that his next opponent, who is more skilled than his past opponents, won't try to exploit his weaknesses.
“I think it's going to be a tough fight against anybody in this decider, especially a top 15 guy. It's not an easy fight, that's all,” Pimblett said in the post-fight press conference. “Any fight against a top 15 lightweight is going to be tough. In mixed martial arts, the lightweight division is the deepest weight class in the world. Every fight is going to be tough, especially now I'm looking at the rankings, but I know every fight is going to be tough.”
Pimblett may be cocky. He may be overconfident, but behind his boisterous personality is a man who knows his win over Green puts a target on his back that he didn't have before UFC 304.
When it comes to Paddy Pimblett and the UFC's lightweight division, things are about to get very interesting.
Related article
Dana White officially announces top three bouts for UFC Noche UFC 306
Dana White: UFC's next broadcast deal could be across multiple platforms
