Paddy Pimblett is "hungry" to silence critics in his UFC return after his controversial win against Jared Gordon last December.
Pimblett, 28, hasn't fought since beating Gordon at UFC 282 last December with many fans and fighters labelling the outcome as "one of the worst UFC decisions ever". 'The Baddy' limped his way out of the octagon after the win having damaged his ankle in the opening round of the fight. Pimblett underwent surgery in March for the injury and UFC women's flyweight Molly McCann has now given an update on her fellow Scouser's injury.
"I feel like he had his cast off last week," McCann said. "He's not been in the MMA gym too much because it's quite a far drive to get in but he's coming to strength and conditioning. He's just hungry, obviously the performance wasn't what he wanted it to be. He wants to just prove who he is. He had a sore foot going into it but none of us realised how bad the injury was that he sustained in the fight until after it."
Who do you want to see Paddy Pimblett fight in his UFC return? Let us know in the comments section below
"He's had like full ankle reconstruction of his ligaments, so that's heavy. I'm going to his wedding this Sunday and I think after that it's only a couple more weeks until he can weight bare and start his comeback. You can imagine when you win and people don't give you respect, or there is a big scrutiny on the fight. Paddy lives to silence people so he just wants to shut them up. I believe you'll see a different animal in him because he'll have more mouths to close."
Pimblett was hoping to make his return in the final quarter of this year but recently admitted he could be sidelined until 2024 as his injury was "worse than expected". The Scouser has been called out by a handful of top lightweights such as Drew Dober and Matt Frevola whilst on the sidelines.
'The Baddy' welcomed Frevola's challenge as he wrote on Instagram: "Bit of a weird time to call me out when I can’t even train, but yeah I’d fight Frevola when I’m back. Probably the easiest route into the top 15 [rankings]." McCann has insisted that Pimblett is willing to fight anyone in his return as his goal is to eventually capture a UFC title.
"Everyone wants to go against him," McCann added. "The thing is we don't get to decide who we are fighting. We are given a name on a date. He's a man who is willing to want to fight everyone. He believes he will be a champion so he will have to fight everyone on the way to it anyway."
