LAS VEGAS – Paddy Pimblett has the promotional push and fanbase size of a bonafide star, but still doesn’t think he gets the full scope of respect he deserves.
Ahead of his UFC 282 bout vs. Jared Gordon, which takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena, Pimblett (19-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) expressed frustration at doubters’ persistence.
“They’re not (giving proper credit),” Pimblett told MMA Junkie and other reporters Wednesday at a pre-fight news conference. “It’s cheeky, lad. People still aren’t taking me for real. Do you know what I mean? No one respects me and it pisses me off. I’ve just got to get on with that, lad. People don’t respect the come-up. It’s as simple as (that).”
Pimblett’s journey remains the same entering his fourth UFC bout. He continues to chip away at doubt as he climbs further and further up the ladder. After back-to-back high-attention bouts in his home country of the United Kingdom, Pimblett will make his long-sought-after pay-per-view debut – in an international setting.
“This is going to be this fight,” Pimblett said. “This is going to be my breakout performance. Because every one of my past opponents have been like, ‘Oh, he’s not good. He’s not good.’ I personally think my best opponent was my debut, Luigi Vendramini. He gets a bad wrap, lad. The only fights he lost were he lost a majority decision to Firas Ziam. He’s also pony-like. He lost his debut at welterweight and then I beat him. But that’s me. Do you know what I mean? People say, ‘Oh, well, he got cut.’ Yeah, Vargas wasn’t the best. He wasn’t. Jordan Leavitt is very good. No one had ever finished him. Everyone was talking about Claudio Puelles. He’s f*cking sh*t, as well. He couldn’t finish him, but everyone was saying that he’d beat me.
“I went and finished Leavitt on one of my worst nights when I turned up with a lot of sh*t going on behind the scenes and I still finished him in the second round. I’m disappointed in that performance, just like I was the Vargas one. I don’t think I’ve put a good performance in since my debut and I don’t even think that was that good, but this is going to be my breakout performance. People are going to see the improvements I’ve been over the past 15 months since I signed with the UFC. Yous are going to see.”
Pimblett, 27, has won five fights in a row including UFC victories over Luigi Vendramini, Kazula Vargas, and Jordan Leavitt. Fifteen of Pimblett’s 19 professional victories have come by finish.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 282.
