Paddy Pimblett may have had his UFC 329 opponent revealed for him, and the hint came in the form of a menu.
Pimblett recently confirmed he has a fight booked for UFC 329 on July 11 in Las Vegas but has not named his opponent. Benoit Saint-Denis has now appeared to answer that question himself through a cryptic AI-generated Instagram video.
In the video, Saint-Denis is seen looking over a restaurant menu that lists his former opponents as different burgers. Mauricio Ruffy is described as Brazilian beef with salsa, Beneil Dariush is a beef that has never seen the light of day, and Dan Hooker is beef pounded thin. The next item on the menu is listed as Le Rosbeef, which translates to roast beef, a dish closely associated with England.
Pimblett is from Liverpool, England, and there are no other British fighters ranked in the UFC lightweight top ten. Fans have drawn the obvious conclusion that Saint-Denis is signaling their matchup without officially announcing it.
Saint-Denis is currently ranked number five in the UFC lightweight division. Pimblett suffered his first UFC loss at UFC 324 in January, dropping a five-round decision to Justin Gaethje in an interim lightweight title fight. The return to action at UFC 329 would be his first fight since that defeat.
UFC 329 is shaping up as a stacked card, with Conor McGregor's comeback also strongly linked to the event. Dana White said negotiations with McGregor are "looking good" at UFC Winnipeg on Saturday. Daniel Rodriguez has also claimed he agreed to face Leon Edwards on the card, and heavyweight prospect Gable Steveson has been officially confirmed.
