It might be a while before Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett can get back in the UFC Octagon.
Over the past two years, Paddy Pimblett has been one of the fastest-rising fighters in the UFC in terms of popularity. He came to the UFC already a star in parts of Europe but exploded to mega-stardom after his UFC debut. His personality and fighting style helped him become a fan favorite and now that he is 4-0 in the UFC, fans are all in on his career and want to know when he is fighting next.
Pimblett has been very active since coming to the UFC but now needs to take a little time off. Pimblett recently underwent surgery on his ankle and will need to take the proper time to rest and heal up before making his next bout known.
Paddy Pimblett has heard the callouts but will not set his next bout until he is healed up
With Pimblett being such a big name on the rise he is getting a great deal of attention from other fighters in his division. People want to fight him and are calling him out all the time. The most notable recently was Drew Dober, he has been asking Pimblett for a fight on social media. Now Pimblett is explaining why he is not setting this one up. He spoke to MMA Junkie about his potential timeline for a return.
“It’s going around Drew Dober said yeah to fight me on May 6,” he said. “I’m getting surgery on the 7th of March. I’m not going to be able to spar until after that fight. So you see some mad stuff on the internet, but you get on with it. It’s too far away to say, ‘I’ll fight him or I’ll fight him because people are going to fight each other and win and lose in the amount of time it takes me to come back. I don’t know who I’m going to go fight.”
In taking his time to get well, Pimblett had not entirely shut down the idea of facing Dober. He is coming off a win over Jared Gordon that came with a great deal of controversy stemming from the judging and Dober who is ranked at number 14 at this time could be a great way to get back in the running for a ranked spot.
“I’ll be in a boot for a few weeks, but then I’m just looking forward to the back end of the year, and I’ll be able to fight,” he said. “I think, back fighting at the end of the year.”
Pimblett is putting his timeline towards the end of the year but if he can speed that up a bit, perhaps International Fight Week in July could be a good landing spot. The UFC likes to add all their stars to that card and Pimblett certainly fits that mold. His last bout was in December and he fought three times in 2022.
Quotes from MMA Junkie.
