Israel Adeanya has explained why he likes Liverpool's Paddy Pimblett ahead of his return to the UFC octagon this weekend. Pimblett faces Kazula Vargas at UFC London on Saturday night, in just his second fight with the company.
All eyes will be on Paddy 'the Baddy', who has risen to stardom after his sensational UFC debut in September with a victory over Luigi Vendramini.
In his debut fight against the Brazilian, Pimblett stood in the pocket and took a huge left hook - and was somehow unscathed before going on to knockout his opponent just moments later in dramatic fashion.
The UFC makes a return to London for the first time in three years with a Fight Night being held at the O2 Arena on Saturday, March 19.
READ MORE: Paddy Pimblett's MMA record in full
Pimblett made the move from Cage Warriors in 2021 -coming off the back of a three-win streak - having had an impressive career since turning pro in 2012.
And one of the pound-for-pound greats, Adesanya, has stated that he's a fan of Pimblett's charisma and persona and he believes the Liverpool star has the ability to back it up.
He said: "He jumped in the UFC, talked that s***, and he walked that s***, too. I like what he’s doing. I like the haircut, and I like how he’s owning everything and just telling it like it is. He’s speaking his truth. They’re building him up.
"This is the thing: when I got to the UFC, when I jumped in, I was ready to fight the [most] dangerous people of the division, and they threw me right in there against a grappler who was going to grapple me — at least, that’s what he tried to do. Second fight, I’m fighting block head [Marvin Vettori], third fight, I fight a top-ranked guy, top-10, f***, third fight."
"Look, you can be a hype train but there’s levels. I knew I could jump in the deep end and swim with the sharks right away. I didn’t have the opportunity, like some of the these guys — even [Jon Jones] early on was fighting, not scrubs, but they push you, and once they realize who you are, ‘Oh, OK, let’s push him more.’
"Anyway, that’s no shade by the way, that’s just me stating it as it is for myself. I didn’t get to fight a guy who was 1-2."
