Paddy Pimblett believes his UFC London win was more exciting than any of Khabib Nurmagomedov's fights.
Fan-favourite Pimblett picked up his second win in the UFC last weekend by overcoming an early scare to submit Kazula Vargas in the first round. The Liverpudlian was dropped by a big punch early on, but eventually took the back of Vargas and submitted him with a rear-naked choke.
Pimblett, who is one of the UFC's biggest rising stars, earned a $50,000 performance bonus for his efforts against Vargas. The 27-year-old was fighting for the first time in six months having won his promotional debut by knockout last September.
And he said of the win: "That's another performance of the night. I'm never in a boring fight, that's something that you can't say about me. Khabib might have went 29-0 but he was never in an exciting fight like that, end of."
Some fans were critical of Nurmagomedov during his MMA career for his wrestling-based style that guided him to 13 consecutive wins in the UFC. He retired from fighting last year after vowing to never fight again following the death of his father and coach Abdulmanap.
The former UFC champion has founded his own MMA promotion, Eagle Fighting Championship, since retiring from the sport. Nurmagomedov also coaches several fighters at his former gym, American Kickboxing Academy.
Pimblett admitted that he isn't ready to fight any of the top ranked fighters in his weight class after his recent win. The former Cage Warriors champion wants to work his way up the ladder and sign a new deal before competing against the best fighters in his division.
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And he said of his win: "As soon as he hit me with that punch and ended up top, I was like 'oh you're gonna make yourself look like a proper mushroom now, you need to sort this out kid'. When you talk a big game like this, you can easily become an internet meme.
"I'm going to continue to prove myself right as I climb the rankings. I've seen a lot of people slating me saying I'll never beat the top 15, but do you think half the people who are in the top 15 now will still be there when I'm actually fighting the top 15?
"I've still got a long way to go up the ladder, I'm not unrealistic I'm a realist. I know that I'm not top 10 fighter, I know I've still got a lot of fights to do. Before I start fighting anyone like that, I wanna get another contract with some extra zeros on there."
