Las Vegas, NV — In what can clearly be seen as the biggest win of his career, Paddy Pimblett put on a strong showing against former interim lightweight champ Tony Ferguson at UFC 296.
Scoring a knockdown and near finish in the first en route to a unanimous decision win, Pimblett was somewhat surprised not a single judge gave him a two-point round.
“I thought the first round, might have got a 10-8 on at least one scorecard,” stated Pimblett (21-3), who noted that of late, only he and Michael Chandler have knocked Ferguson down. Still, he’s happy with the performance overall. “I take good things away from it. I blew my load a little bit at the end of the first trying to finish him. So I was feeling it a little bit in the second and third, but as I said I still got on top of him and ground and pounded him and dominated the fight. So I’m happy.”
Ahead of the fight, many saw Paddy Pimblett in a lose-lose situation. Ferguson was on a six-fight skid, after all. Pimblett acknowledged that, but still managed to get fired up for the fight.
“Obviously a win’s a win, it goes without saying but I mentioned in another interview, he lit a fire under me at the press conference.” Ahead of his Jared Gordon fight, for which Pimblett was widely maligned, he didn’t “really feel anything towards him. So I didn’t want to bite down on my gum shield or anything.” When Ferguson began talking trash at the UFC 296 press conference this past Thursday, however, “I wanted to come in and make a statement. I felt like I did in the first, obviously the second and third wasn’t as dominating even through I did control him for both of the rounds. Gutted I didn’t get the finish, but it’s one of them.”
What’s next for Paddy Pimblett is fatherhood. His wife, he announced recently, is pregnant with twin girls, and due right around the time of UFC 300. That appears to have taken Pimblett out of the running to appear on the card.
“I wanted to fight on UFC 300. If it would have been announced for the first weekend of April, like the sixth of April, I may have fought on it. But the wife’s due between the 12th and the 17th of April. I’m not missing the birth of my first kids, lad. It’s not happening. So I can’t do that on the 13th.”
Instead of UFC 300, Paddy “The Baddy” is now targeting a show close to home. “I’ve heard there’s a show in Manchester in July, rumors of it,” he noted. “So that could be me. It’s only 30 minutes from my house.”
As for his Ferguson win, Paddy Pimblett admitted to Cageside Press that, after criticism stemming from the Jared Gordon fight, “It’s a bit of redemption— but this is the sport we live in lad. You get judged on your last performance. There’s probably still people talking sh*t about me now saying I ‘couldn’t finish a washed up Tony.’ That’s the game we play, lad. The MMA fan base is very toxic, but we get on with it.”
Watch the full UFC 296 post-fight press conference with Paddy Pimblett above.
