Ronnie O'Sullivan has accepted Paddy Pimblett's invitation to spar with him in an MMA octagon after the Liverpudlian went to see the snooker legend play earlier this week. O'Sullivan himself was in attendance at UFC London to see Pimblett's statement victory over Rodrigo 'Kazula' Vargas, and now the two have struck up an unlikely friendship.
The win was the second time that Pimblett has fought in the UFC after his debut over Luigi Vendramini in September - a fight in which he also secured a first-round finish. Like the first fight, the Baddy took a big shot to the face, with Vargas going for the take down. In his fight against Vendramini last year, the Liverpool star was able to regroup, compose himself before landing some huge shots, showing his athleticism, power and striking abilities to knock out his opponent.
The victory sees Pimblett's stature rise further, with the rising UFC star admitting that he could have been the main event himself. He has stated that he's ready to do so and has gained a fan in O'Sullivan, who returned the favour to see him beat Mark Williams in North Wales earlier this week.
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Speaking on Pimblett, he said: "I am definitely going to try and do some sparring with him, when I next go to Liverpool he has told me I have got to get in the cage. I went to Paddy’s last fight in London at the O2 with Damien Hirst, because he is a huge fan of UFC and knows the big bosses. We were sitting front row watching Paddy and Molly McCann too, and it was a great night.
"I have got to know Paddy over the last few weeks. He is a super, lovely guy and is going to be a real superstar. Well, he is already really but he is going to be mega, he has that X-Factor. He just has an aura, everyone is talking about him. It was weird, my son was like ‘You went to the UFC, Paddy’s a legend’ and he loved it when I sent him a picture of us."
O'Sullivan got to know Pimblett over breakfast the morning of his match against Williams, describing the encounter: “We had breakfast together in Llandudno on the morning of my match with Mark Williams, all my friends from Liverpool brought him down. There are a few of the lads, and we had a couple of beers afterwards.”
There are a number of fighters for Pimblett to face whilst he continues to rise through the ranks - having gained a few rivals within the industry already. The Liverpudlian revealed to the Liverpool Echo that he's looking to fight once again in the summer, before a third fight of the year in the winter.
Pimblett is set to travel to the United States soon, to continue his work with American sports media outlet Barstool Sports.
