Paddy Pimblett thinks Bobby Green will never be able to fully recover from his controversial stoppage loss to Jalin Turner in December, and that’s ultimately going to play to his advantage at UFC 304.
Green was the victim of a careless late stoppage from referee Kerry Hatley in his UFC on ESPN 52 bout with Turner in which he took multiple unnecessary blows while already unconscious. He bounced back just a few months later at UFC 300, though, defeating Jim Miller by unanimous decision to set up the July 27 showdown with Pimblett at RAC Arena in Manchester, England (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).
Pimblett (21-3 MMA, 5-0 UFC) vividly remembers watching live as Green (32-15-1 MMA, 13-10-1 UFC) was battered by Turner. He disliked the stoppage as much as anyone, and in studying Green in advance of UFC 304, he’s concluded that result did irreparable damage to Green’s durability.
“That fight with Jalin, I was sitting in this room (where I’m doing this interview) watching it with my mate Blaze,” Pimblett told MMA Junkie. “We were both like, ‘Stop the fight, stop the fight.’ As much as he talked sh*t about me that fight week, I can remember turning to my lad Blaze and saying, ‘I know he spoke sh*t about me, but that’s f*cking disgusting. How has that ref allowed that to go on like that?’
“I do think it’s still affecting him because he got clipped with a few shots against Jim Miller, who is not a big puncher, and in the first round he looked a little bit (wobbly). He looked like Jim hurt him a little bit, I thought. Jim won the first round against Bobby. So I think he’s a little bit chinny now. Not even the Jalin Turner one. He got knocked out clean by Drew Dober as well a couple of months before that. He’s been knocked out a few times, but that Jalin Turner one – your chin is never the same after something like that.”
FULL INTERVIEW
Despite seeing a juicy target on Green’s head, Pimblett, 29, recently made headlines by suggesting a grappling-heavy fight at UFC 304.
Green previously stated that he doesn’t think Pimblett can submit him, and the Brit replied by daring his opponent to compete with him on the mat. That resulted in fan backlash toward Pimblett that he was reluctant to strike with Green, but he said that couldn’t be further from the case.
Pimblett isn’t bothered by any fan reaction toward him, however, and said that when UFC 304 arrives, he will be looking to put Green away in any manner he can.
“I just said, ‘You said I can’t submit you – grapple then with me, lad,'” Pimblett said. “I’m not saying I won’t strike with him, because I will. I’m going to come out, I’m going to try to take his head off his f*cking shoulders. If he’s saying that I can’t submit him and he can grapple with me – come and do it then. He put a picture up of his brown belt on his (Instagram) story. It’s like, f*cking hell, I got my brown belt when I was 21.”
“It’s crazy. I can’t say anything though, lad. Anything I say get’s spun and gets made to sound like I said something else, or people just jump on the hate bandwagon. It’s cool to hate ‘Paddy The Baddy’ at the minute.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
