UFC star Paddy Pimblett has claimed he is struggling to find an opponent for his octagon return on December 10, despite a number of callouts in the lightweight division.
The Scouse fighter has stopped his three opponents to date within two rounds since signing with the promotion, and is expected to make a step up in opposition, even if he isn't taking on ranked opposition yet. But he claims UFC chiefs are finding it difficult to match him for a bout on the massive end-of-year pay-per-view event.
He has previously faced Luigi Vendramini, Rodrigo Vargas and Jordan Leavitt inside the octagon after a Cage Warriors run that included winning featherweight gold. But as his level increases, it seems that opponents are hard to come by for the Brit for his next fight.
“I’m planning on fighting Decemeber 10 UFC 282,” Pimblett said while commentating on Cage Warriors last week in Italy. “I’m planning on fighting on that [show]. I’m just waiting for an opponent. I’m just waiting for an opponent to step up and sign the dotted line. Everyone talks about ‘The Baddy.’ Everyone talks about fighting me. When the contract is in front of them, they’re not as confident.”
This came as news to Pimblett's fellow lightweight Terrance McKinney, who has been calling for a fight with him since he joined the promotion back in September. McKinney burst on to the scene with a seven-second knockout over Matt Frevola, who is also an option for Pimblett, in his debut at UFC 263 last year.
He has never been out of the first round in the UFC, even in his sole loss against Drew Dober, and has only been to the second or third twice in his entire professional career. However, it appears that Pimblett would ideally fight McKinney down the line when they are both major main event stars, although he has claimed he would fight him now as well.
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"These articles coming out about how Paddy can’t find a fight but our division has over 100 fighters," McKinney tweeted in response to his rival's comments, sharing a shrug emoji. "I guess they can’t find anymore easy wins for him." He also retweeted a message from a fan account noting that both he and Ilia Topuria had vocally been looking to fight Pimblett.
"Paddy Pimblett says that he's having a hard time finding an opponent," the message from fanpage 'ThaWeasle' read, with over 2,500 liking the tweet. "That's strange because there's so many fighters calling him out. McKinney and Topuria should be considered."
Other fighters who compete at a reasonable level relative to Pimblett's and have called for bouts with the Scouse fighter in the past include Jared Gordon, who is currently without a fight, and Frevola, who is currently scheduled to face the undefeated Ottman Azaitar in New York next month.
