Paddy Pimblett fancies his chances against Dustin Poirier.
Poirier recently suffered a third-round submission defeat to Charles Oliveira in their lightweight title fight in the UFC 269 headliner last month.
Despite a strong start where he dropped and hurt Oliveira, “Do Bronx” was able to turn the tide with his body work before dominating Poirier on the ground in the second round.
By the start of the third, Poirier was already feeling the effects as Oliveira quickly snatched his back and sunk in the rear naked choke for the submission victory and his first title defense.
For many observers, it was a signature win for Oliveira who had earned arguably his most impressive victory yet. However, for Pimblett, it opened his eyes as to how a potential fight between himself and Poirier would go.
“I went with Poirier over Oliveira,” Pimblett said on a recent episode of Michael Bisping’s podcast (via MMA News). “And lad, after watching that fight as well, I’m watching that thinking, ‘Lad, if Oliveira can do that to you Dustin, I can.’
“It’s mad like, when you watch (it), MMA math doesn’t work, but when you watch fights, you’re just like, ‘Wow, if he can do that and get in that position, then fucking I can.’”
Paddy Pimblett Has Work To Do Before Facing Dustin Poirier
Of course, “The Baddy” has a lot of work to do before he even finds himself in a position to face Poirier.
The Liverpool native only recently made his UFC debut in September when he battled adversity to knock out Luigi Vendramini in their lightweight contest to enjoy a successful promotional debut.
While Pimblett carried plenty of hype entering the UFC, not many were impressed with his performance, especially as he appeared to be rocked early on.
However, he has plenty of time on his side to improve and hopefully reach a position to challenge Poirier. Assuming Poirier hasn’t retired by then, of course.
A win against Donald Cerrone would certainly be a good start as that appears to be the next matchup for Pimblett. Nothing is confirmed as of yet, though.
You can watch the full video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnx6CLDN8Ks