Paddy Pimblett stole the show at UFC 329. Matt Brown still isn’t buying him as a future champion.
Pimblett was the bright spot on a night McGregor’s knee ruined, choking out Benoit Saint Denis in under a minute in the co-main event to send T-Mobile Arena into a frenzy. Brown loved the energy. He’s just not ready to call “The Baddy” title material, and he said as much on MMA Fighting’s “The Fighter vs. The Writer.“
I’ll tell you, I know I’ll take a lot of [expletive] on this but skill wise, I’m still just not sold on Paddy yet. I hope he proves me wrong. I’m not trying to be Debbie Downer, or a —- a**hole over here, but I’m just not sold on him. We’ll see. I hope he proves me wrong.
Brown pointed to Pimblett’s January loss to Justin Gaethje as the moment fans saw his ceiling, but he refused to take anything away from the Saint Denis finish.
Maybe I have a little bit of pessimism in me or non-belief, maybe more than I should have, but I didn’t believe in Conor either back in the day. But it kind of feels the same way with Paddy. The difference is we have seen Paddy, he got beat up pretty bad by Justin Gaethje. I think we have a better idea of what his level is. The dude —- got it done against BSD. That’s a tough fight, and the way he did was absolutely impressive. Good for him.
What’s next is unclear, but the quick finish means Pimblett could be back sooner than expected, whether that’s a grudge match with Ilia Topuria or another top lightweight.
