UFC lightweight Paddy Pimblett has described his debut as “perfect,” and suggested only a five-second Masvidal-esque knockout would have made it better.
Pimblett finally arrived on MMA’s biggest stage in the UFC Vegas 36 main card opener this past weekend. Against Luigi Vendramini, the Liverpudlian showed why he’s so highly touted, and put his charisma on full display in his post-fight interview.
Having overcome some early adversity, which saw him rocked by the Brazilian, Pimblett turned up the heat. After unloading with strikes, “The Baddy” knocked Vendramini out with less than a minute of the opening round remaining.
Given his personality and presence on social media, Pimblett’s UFC debut was one of the most highly-anticipated in recent memory. And in front of a lively, albeit small, UFC Apex crowd, the Englishman made a statement to the rest of the lightweight division.
Speaking to the media following his successful first appearance, Pimblett assessed his performance against Vendramini. According to “The Baddy,” it couldn’t have gone much better. Aside from a five-second knockout resembling Jorge Masvidal’s crazy finish against Ben Askren, Pimblett believes his debut was as good a way to enter the promotion as any.
“Yeah, 100%. Either that or run out in five seconds, get a flying knee like Masvidal. But yeah, that was perfect. Showed everyone that I can come through adversity as well because he did catch me with a nice left hook. I need to stop letting people punch me in the face, lad. I want to put on too much of a show, lad, so I just put me hands down and get into firefights with people…I can’t help meself, lad. I like fightin’. So I do just let people hit me sometimes, which is pretty stupid because it can go wrong. But it didn’t go wrong there, know what I mean? It didn’t go wrong, and it was never gonna go wrong.”
At UFC 239, Masvidal shocked the world when he handed Askren his first defeat in MMA. Breaking the record for the fastest knockout in UFC history, “Gamebred” left “Funky” unconscious after just five seconds with a brutal flying knee.
Having successfully backed up his hype this past weekend, Paddy Pimblett will be looking ahead to his next appearance inside the Octagon. Following his victory on Saturday, the Liverpool native sent a message to the rest of the 155-pound weight class. He told them that “the new king is here.”
What did you make of Paddy Pimblett’s debut? Was it the perfect first appearance?
