Paddy Pimblett has been told UFC superstar Conor McGregor has a much better "skillset" despite their comparisons.
The rising star has fought three times in the UFC winning all three of his outings while generating a huge profile for himself both domestically and stateside. In his latest outing Pimblett will return to the octagon looking for a fourth consecutive win against hard hitter Jared Gordon at UFC 282 in Las Vegas tomorrow night.
Throughout the early stages of his career, Pimblett has faced comparisons to UFC superstar McGregor who shot to fame for his early finishes and brash-talking personality. But former two-weight champion Henry Cejudo believes that Pimblett is a level below McGregor in terms of his UFC capabilities.
"As much as I give Conor McGregor a bunch of stuff, his skillset is a lot better than this guy," Cejudo said when breaking down a video of Pimblett's fight highlights on his YouTube channel. "I like Paddy 'The Baddy', I think he brings a lot of publicity to the UFC, but he's not at that level."
McGregor made a remarkable rise in the sport which saw him become two-weight champion in 2016, while becoming the most talked about and watched star on the UFC roster. Pimblett is making a similarly fast rise and has frequently earned comparisons to the Irishman, while being thrust into a potential mega-fight with his counterpart.
A potential showdown between the pair seems unlikely given McGregor's planned weight switch to 170lb, but Pimblett has stated if the pair do touch gloves in the future that it will likely become the biggest pay-per-view in histor y. He said: "It would be the biggest pay-per-view that the UFC has ever seen like put it that way, goes without saying. But I think when Conor comes back, he'll be fighting at 170 [pounds].
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"He'll struggle to make 155 [pounds] now to be honest. He's looking big. But I respect Conor, you know what I mean? What he's done for this sport, he's done a lot more than most of the people that've done this sport and I think he gets a bad reputation. He doesn't get the respect that he deserves."
Pimblett has also come under fire for his similarities to McGregor including from All-Elite Wrestling star Maxwell Jacob Friedman, who called him a "pound shop" version of the UFC superstar. He wrote: "Unlike you I'm 100 per cent natural and I'm also 100 per cent original. Unlike you. You are a dollar store Conor McGregor that is talking. Will from Strangers Things [ Netflix series] looking a** and wouldn't last two seconds in my world. See you in London."
McGregor surprisingly then took to social media to defend Pimblett, tweeting: "A dollar store Conor is still worth millions! Let’s go young Paddy Pimb! Don’t know who this other clown is."
