Mike Tyson has told the UFC they can't afford for Paddy Pimblett to lose if they want him to be the next Conor McGregor.
Pimblett was signed to the UFC last year after previously turning down two offers from the promotion. 'The Baddy' has since won consecutive fights against limited competition in Luigi Vendramini and Kazula Vargas, both of whom were cut from the UFC after losing to the Liverpudlian.
Despite being just two fights deep into his UFC career, Pimblett has captured the attention of fight fans around the world because of his entertaining personality. He even signed a seven-figure contract with Barstool Sports last year, earning him far more than the £9,000 he was guaranteed for his promotional debut.
Boxing legend Tyson recently quizzed Barstool Sports president Dave Portnoy about Pimblett's skills on a recent episode of his podcast, asking him: “How good is Paddy?" to which Portnoy replied: “Paddy the Baddy to me has like the Conor McGregor vibes in the sense of he’s electric on the mic, there’s something about him that’s very different.
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Tyson then likened Pimblett's rise to McGregor, stating: "Conor McGregor, he has that too, and he could fight in there too.” McGregor was in a similar boat to Pimblett when he made his UFC debut almost a decade ago and went on to seven consecutive fights in the promotion before suffering his first loss.
"We’ll find out, but I think he can definitely fight. How good? We’ll find out but Dana [White] knows and Dana sees what I see in him which is this guy is a meal ticket," Portnoy added. "They’re not going to put him in versus King Kong anytime soon... and he sold out the London show the other day.” Tyson then said back: "When guys do that, let them fight. Don’t get him beat please.”
Pimblett, who faces Jordan Leavitt at UFC London later this month, has been criticised for the calibre of opponents he's fought in the UFC so far. 'The Baddy' admitted he is reluctant to fight any top-ranked lightweight until the UFC awards him a better contract, but his manager Graham Boylan recently said Pimblett is now on "big f****ng money" ahead of his next fight.
"I can categorically tell you now that contract's gone, that's gone - he's on f***ing big money now. It is what it is but I'm just happy for him," he told Mirror Fighting last month.
