Paddy is somehow worse than I thought he was (and isn’t getting any better)

[Fatback96]

To be clear, I didn’t rate Paddy that high to begin with. As in, I didn’t think he was UFC LW Top 15 material.

But to struggle with this version of Tony Ferguson was a horrible look. Even though I don’t think Paddy was very good, I figured he’d still finish Tony, as everyone else has managed to in recent years.

Paddy won every round because Tony basically gave him top position. Paddy didn’t have any urgency or cardio to finish Tony.
Paddy got outstruck on the feet by current Tony, and looked very shaky and lost in striking exchanges. That’s a horrible look. Tony should’ve retired several fights ago.

Tony is by far the most washed fighter on the roster and Paddy had to lay and pray his way to a victory.

This shows Paddy is not only very bad and barely UFC level, but also isn’t evolving or getting any better while in the UFC. No improvement in several fights.

 

[TOMFDJYEDH]

Paddy got out struck? What fight were you watching bro

 

[MEAN357]

In all fairness. Doesn't he have to lay and pray against anybody he fights? Thats literally his only skillset, no?

 

[bean88]

Paddy did not get out struck he unloaded on Tony multiple times in round 1 and 2, he certainly looked better than his last fight and I’m not even a big fan of his

He did look exhausted in rd3 though and it says a lot about Tony’s current state that he couldn’t capitalise on it as that used to be his bread and butter

 

[DrRodentia]

Tony barely touched him on the feet

 

[TheShockmaster]

Paddy is poor but he didn't get outstruck. Prime Tony eats him alive but that was just sad.

 

[MaulingMyClown]

To be clear, I didn’t rate Paddy that high to begin with. As in, I didn’t think he was UFC LW Top 15 material.

But to struggle with this version of Tony Ferguson was a horrible look. Even though I don’t think Paddy was very good, I figured he’d still finish Tony, as everyone else has managed to in recent years.

Paddy won every round because Tony basically gave him top position. Paddy didn’t have any urgency or cardio to finish Tony.
Paddy got outstruck on the feet by current Tony, and looked very shaky and lost in striking exchanges. That’s a horrible look. Tony should’ve retired several fights ago.

Tony is by far the most washed fighter on the roster and Paddy had to lay and pray his way to a victory.

This shows Paddy is not only very bad and barely UFC level, but also isn’t evolving or getting any better while in the UFC. No improvement in several fights.

I dont think he's quite as bad as you're making him out to be. However...he will get exposed soon, especially when he gets a 5 round fight. I think he cuts way too much weight which affects his cardio big time.

 

[Howard Moon]

it says a lot about Tony’s current state that he couldn’t capitalise on it as that used to be his bread and butter

I thought it said a LOT more about Fatty the Fatty that after having the guy with the most shot chin in MMA badly hurt in round 1, he couldn't finish him.

Feed Pimblett to a ranked fighter. Let him get exposed as the regional level talent that he is, and let's move on to the next fad.

 

[OldBoy91]

I dont think he's quite as bad as you're making him out to be. However...he will get exposed soon, especially when he gets a 5 round fight. I think he cuts way too much weight which affects his cardio big time.

It's not really getting exposed when everybody already knows his limitations and that he isn't contender quality.

Getting exposed is when somebody who everybody ordains as a future champion gets figured out. Like Brandon Thatch.

 

[sdpdude9]

Some said Paddy looked better but I think a lot of that was his opponent. He was still loading up and keeping his chin straight up, same things that got him tagged before. Tony was just too slow and vulnerable himself. Don’t get me wrong, Paddy dominated, but he didn’t really show anything we hadn’t seen before from him. And Tony looked worse than ever. To me, this fight just reaffirmed Paddy has a ceiling.

 

[bean88]

I thought it said a LOT more about Fatty the Fatty that after having the guy with the most shot chin in MMA badly hurt in round 1, he couldn't finish him.

Feed Pimblett to a ranked fighter. Let him get exposed as the regional level talent that he is, and let's move on to the next fad.

I agree he’ll get exposed when he fights somebody higher ranked to be honest, it will be interesting to see who they match him up with

 

[johnkilo]

He looked better than his last fight, which isn't saying much because it was against Tony, but what really makes him look bad was just how gassed he was in round 3. With a real top 5-10 fighter in the division he's going to lose badly if he stays like this.

 

[bubbleboyjones]

Some said Paddy looked better but I think a lot of that was his opponent. He was still loading up and keeping his chin straight up, same things that got him tagged before. Tony was just too slow and vulnerable himself. Don’t get me wrong, Paddy dominated, but he didn’t really show anything we hadn’t seen before from him. And Tony looked worse than ever. To me, this fight just reaffirmed Paddy has a ceiling.

I'd say he did look better but regardless the facts are he's a 28 year old guy with 24 pro fights and he's been fighting pro for 9 years. He's already up there in age and just had major surgery. Putting things into perspective at that same point Conor was already a 2 division champ and at his peak. We tend to think Paddy is much younger than he is because his UFC debut was 2 years ago but he's no spring chicken at LW.

Most likely the ceiling is pretty much here or not too much more. Even misc things like him ballooning up like some pregnant woman between fights indicates dedication issues. There are exceptions but this ain't HW and the division is going to get VERY nasty for him. Realistically speaking he easily lost the Jared Gordon fight and Gordon is not highly ranked guy(Fight Matrix has him at #41 worldwide now), Tony hasn't won a fight since 2019.

 

[Reileyb]

This performance was not impressive by either man, Ferguson keeps looking even worse, his standup was sloppy.. doing his slow, awkward elbow shit in the pocket and getting tagged for no reason, Paddy's stand up looked slow and awkward, lacking a lot of technique and still kept tagging Tony.

Letting a gassed opponent lazily take you down and offer no offense or urgency to stand back up.

Ferguson looked helpless compared to who he was 5 years ago, and compared to current top 10 LW's.

And Paddy still struggled.

 

[Dr Fong]

Tony barely touched him on the feet

Well, this is simply not true either. Pimplett clearly dominated the washed old man but still got tagged a lot more than he should have.

 

[Fergelmince]

He looked like he was $hitting his pants terrified in the 3rd before he got that last takedown. That dude has NO gas tank, especially for a 155er.

I'm sure barstool sports is glad they gave him all that money. Here's portnoy looking for his ROI that'll never materialize

 

[pankrat]

He looked better than his last fight, which isn't saying much because it was against Tony, but what really makes him look bad was just how gassed he was in round 3. With a real top 5-10 fighter in the division he's going to lose badly if he stays like this.

You dont need a top5-10 fighter to beat Paddy lol.
Jared Gordon arguably did and a bunch of LWs in Bellator would as well.

 

[Oscar Madison]

Paddy is awesome -- giving up his fat lifestyle so he can make weight and entertain us.

He took on a Legend -- and though winded by Rd 3, he persevered on his way to another victory.

He's the fat kid we deserve.

 

[sdpdude9]

I'd say he did look better but regardless the facts are he's a 28 year old guy with 24 pro fights and he's been fighting pro for 9 years. He's already up there in age and just had major surgery. Putting things into perspective at that same point Conor was already a 2 division champ and at his peak. We tend to think Paddy is much younger than he is because his UFC debut was 2 years ago but he's no spring chicken at LW.

Most likely the ceiling is pretty much here or not too much more. There are exceptions but this ain't HW and the division is going to get VERY nasty for him. Realistically speaking he easily lost the Jared Gordon fight and Gordon is not highly ranked guy(Fight Matrix has him at #41 worldwide now), Tony hasn't won a fight since 2019.

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Completely agree. I think a guy like Gordon is about his ceiling. Middle of the pack in the UFC and I think Tony is below that line nowadays, hence why Paddy won handily but still didn’t manage to overly impress. And he’s in a killer division, I cannot imagine him having anything for any of the guys currently ranked.

 

[dcthegod]

Last night was a tough night for me as a long time fan lol the fight was abysmal and painful to watch tbh. That aside, I was kinda shocked at how big paddy appeared in the cage with Tony. He’s a pretty big lw.. which kinda makes things even worse? Lol