Who should Paddy Pimblett fight next?

[Kyojiro Kagenuma]

I'd like to see him fight any of these 3 would be nice.

Any other guys you'd like to see?

I think he beats Gaethje and Poirer, honestly. They're both old and on their way out, and susceptible to submissions. Olivera would be tougher.


Topuria would be very interesting, given their past interactions.

 

[Elvis.]

McGregor
Seriously
I think it’s a fight McGregor thinks he could win & the ppv buys would be crazy

 

[TheWizard25]

I’d like to see Paddy vs Illia.

 

[Söze Aldo]

McGregor
Seriously
I think it’s a fight McGregor thinks he could win & the ppv buys would be crazy

He'd kill McGregor at this point. Chandler looks right up McGs alley now though.

 

[Neck&Neck]

Money Moic
Hooker
Joostin
Max

 

[TheMadHatter]

Jared Gordon

 

[nonoob]

Paddy looked great, rock him vs Charles.

McGregor
Seriously
I think it’s a fight McGregor thinks he could win & the ppv buys would be crazy

Although unlikely AF, PPV sales would for sure be insane.

 

[jddominic]

Gamrot or hooker

 

[jddominic]

Gamrot or hooker

 

[nostradumbass]

He'll be in the top 10 next week and is on a 7 fight win streak, so any top 5.

A lot depends on JDM/Belal outcome, but if JDM wins, Islam moves up, Arman/Topuria can fight for the vacant title, and Paddy can fight Gaethje for the next shot, and Charles can fight Max.

 

[CC27]

List all the guys except the one who is probably the best option for him which is Hooker.

Topuria is gonna either get at title shot or Charles not Paddy. Dustin is fighting Max in July. To me Charles and Arman are just bad fights but they could go with Charles I wouldnt though. SO that leaves Justin or Hooker. Depending on what they have planned for Justin I could see with Hooker waiting to heal up from his injury and fact Paddy probably doesnt fight again till Nov/Dec, MSG/Vegas that lines up with Hookers return. Thats not biggest name option as Charles or Justin would be bigger name but I dont think Charles is the fight you want to make.

 

[CC27]

He'll be in the top 10 next week and is on a 7 fight win streak, so any top 5.

A lot depends on JDM/Belal outcome, but if JDM wins, Islam moves up, Arman/Topuria can fight for the vacant title, and Paddy can fight Gaethje for the next shot, and Charles can fight Max.

Theres literally so many ways the div can play out right now but until they make up their mind on what Islam is doing the rest of the div is just in a standstill. Only Dustin/Max seems locked in for a possible New Orleans BMF title fight for Dustins retirement.

all the rest is up in the air. Is Islam moving up, is he fighting Charles, is it Arman, is it TOpuria, until they figure that out the div is jammed.

 

[nostradumbass]

Theres literally so many ways the div can play out right now but until they make up their mind on what Islam is doing the rest of the div is just in a standstill. Only Dustin/Max seems locked in for a possible New Orleans BMF title fight for Dustins retirement.

all the rest is up in the air. Is Islam moving up, is he fighting Charles, is it Arman, is it TOpuria, until they figure that out the div is jammed.

I think it's JDM wins, Islam fights JDM, Belal wins, he fights Shavkat and Islam stays at LW. Top 5 would sort out if Topuria didn't move up and is in the mix but unranked. I like Arman/Topuria either way, and they can announce whether it's a title eliminator or vacant title once they see whether Belal or JDM is champ.

Paddy is good for either Gaethje or Charles, and Max has some time if he's fighting Dustin next.

Arman kind of effed the division by faking an injury and pulling out the day before, and ruined his title shot but still keeps that spot, so it would fit cleaner if Topuria could just beat him and make himself the #1 contender and send Arman back down the ladder.

 

[bigfootsbreath]

I like the Justin fight. Paddy ain't proved enough to fight Charles, who should be the top right there with arman for next title shot.

 

[Dana's Moonface]

Justin or charles
If paddy is going to be world champ these are the guys to beat

I think Gaethje next

 

[rorschach51]

I like the Justin fight. Paddy ain't proved enough to fight Charles, who should be the top right there with arman for next title shot.

Charles last fight was against Chandler same as Paddy. Charles didn't beat Chandler like Paddy did, to me that's enough proof to fight Charles next.

 

[FreedomCricket]

I don't really have a taste for Gaethje or Poirier.

Charles maybe or Armen or Ilia.

 

[kingmob6]

Where beneil at? Is he fighting still?

 

[rjmbrd]

With only 2 ranked wins right now, #15 and #7, I think a title eliminator is too quick, but at the same time, he has already been fairly slow-played for a popular fighter and is 7-0 in the UFC already.

This is overall an excellent post, I just want to contribute one note here - its REALLY difficult to go 7-0 in the UFC lightweight division. Even setting aside an appropriately increase strength of schedule, just statistically this is rare to achieve.

Once you hit that volume of wins, you belong in the top fights. You're going to lose statistically just by nature of how dangerous MMA is. Guys should not be touching on 10 fight win streaks to get title position. Going 7-0 and beating that absolute shit out of Michael Chandler en-route to stopping him? That means its time to fight a top 5, brand name opponent.

I guess it depends on what the division is going to look like very soon. It is currently a division kinda barren for a next contender right now, but with: Ilia coming up, not sure if Max is sticking to his promise to move up which would be another person arguably in the line in front of Paddy, Ortega maybe moving up (which I wouldn't put in front of Paddy, but could be depending on who his first fight at LW is, and if he wins it).

If we have something like Justin moving out of line by taking Poirier's retirement fight, and Charles vs Ilia title eliminator, and Hooker is still recovering from injury, then Paddy fighting Arman next makes a lot of sense. But seeing all the names that could be up there, I think Paddy gets at least 2 more wins before a shot.

Him vs Hooker is, I think, the closest fight in terms of positioning + ranked win momentum, but it might be the option I'm least interested in.

Him vs LW Ortega is very interesting to me from a grappling perspective, but Ortega's featherweight status and downturn does nothing to help out the perception that Paddy is getting layup fights.

Maybe Paddy vs Holloway? Max at last carries value at LW unlike Ortega. But like Hooker, it's a stylistic matchup I'm not super interested in.

The big questions are: what's the current title eliminator and does DP's last fight pull anyone?

I assume Ilia vs Charles is happening, but if it isn't, either of them would be a great fight, but then Paddy could be at the title in one shot, depending if Arman does anything else. There's just too much to balance out there.

I think the best guy with a chance of being the odd man out of those 2 questions is Gaethje. If it's not an eliminator or the Dustin trilogy, then Justin is both a great name and has great current meritous value. It would be a fantastic opportunity for Paddy, and still give him room for an eliminator after. And it would give Justin a chance to put a win streak back together, over the hottest streaking contender atm

All excellent points. Presumably what Islam decides to do is going to cascade a lot of other bookings. IMO they should simply rebook Islam -vs- Arman but that doesn't look like it'll happen. So Arman -vs- Paddy is on the table.

 

[Big Tuppy Hole]

Is anyone else wanting these guys to retire?

Dustin - Rank 5, and 36 years old. Lost his last fight to Islam.

Justin - Rank 3, and 36 years old. Beat Fiziev in his last fight.

Oliveira - Rank 2, and 35 years old. Beat Chandler in his last fight.


There is nothing about LW that I give a shit about anymore. Rank squatting top 5 that don’t want to lose their rank. Getting paid very well, and mostly only fight eachother. Which is what protects them from dropping in the rankings.

NOBODY as old as these guys has ever won an UFC Title at any division lighter than WW.

No thanks. Between Islam fighting late notice FW/Ex-FW (not his fault). But, it’s quite underwhelming, imo.

I said years ago that Islam would probably win the LW title. And set a new LW consecutive defence streak.

But I never really expected for this shit to go on for several years.

Great fighters in the past. But I really am ready for them to retire. Nothing personal, but they’ve had their time.

Dustin.. 1 - 3 in title fights. He beat Max for the interim UFC LW title.

Justin.. 1 -2 in title fights. He beat Ferguson for the interim title. And lost the BMF fight with Max.

Oliveira.. 3 - 1 in title fights. I include his win after missing weight.

I’d just like for the division to move forward beyond these guys.

Everytime a prospect steps up to fight these guys they get sent packing.

Also we have a group of fighters that have arguably put on the greatest series of fights a division has ever seen and people still complain. It's the end of a golden era, try to enjoy it while it lasts