Paul Felder doesn’t like Paddy Pimblett’s chances against any of the UFC’s ranked lightweights.
Pimblett (21-3 MMA, 5-0 UFC) dominated the skidding Tony Ferguson en route to a unanimous decision win at UFC 296. Prior to the fight, Pimblett described his situation as a lose-lose and Felder agrees.
Although Pimblett was able to hurt Ferguson on the feet and control him on the ground, Felder expected a finish.
“Can Paddy beat anyone in the top 15? I will start with this: Of course he can. We know that it’s MMA – anything can happen,” Felder said on his “Round-Up” show with Michael Chiesa. “But if we were going to sit here and make bets, and if I had to predict: No, I really don’t think so. He struggled to get a Tony out of there who looked the worst he’s ever looked in his career.
“He was able to hurt Tony a little bit, but he really should have been able to put him away. Not taking anything away from him – he knew he was going to be in for a hard one, even if he won this fight. He said it in the media days leading up that we were going to criticize him even if he wins, if he didn’t go out there and maybe get him out of there. So here we are criticizing him.”
After taking a look at who’s currently ranked at 155 pounds, the list only confirmed Felder’s thoughts.
“(Ranked lightweights) 15 through 10, OK: Drew Dober, Bobby Green, (Renato) Moicano, Benoit Saint Denis, Rafael dos Anjos and Jalin Turner,” Felder said.
