Pimblett was hailed by UFC president Dana White, after sending London's O2 Arena wild with a spectacular submission victory over Mexico's Rodrigo Vargas.
Sunday 20 March 2022 10:58, UK
Dana White believes Paddy 'The Baddy' Pimblett is now the real deal, after the 27-year-old lit up London's O2 Arena on the UFC's return to the capital for the first time in three years.
Pimblett (18-3) underlined his credentials in the lightweight division with a stunning submission victory over Rodrigo Vargas to claim his fourth straight win.
The Liverpool fighter locked in a rear-naked choke to make Vargas tap in the first round, despite getting caught early by his Mexican opponent.
Pimblett received an incredible reception from the partisan crowd in London, and his performance and popularity drew praise from UFC president Dana White.
"This week I was getting tired of hearing: 'Wait until you see his walk-out. Wait until you see this and that'," White told reporters.
"I want to see him fight. He needs to win, but he did, and he did spectacularly. When he was in trouble, he came back and turned the fight around and won.
"On my Instagram I posted the faceoffs yesterday from the heavyweight fight [Tom Aspinall-Alexander Volkov] - it did 120,000 views. Paddy's face-off did 1.3 million.
"This kid has got a ton of hype behind him, and tonight he showed everybody that he's the real deal."
Pimblett was in buoyant mood following his win at UFC London, revealing he told White that he would be paying out another fight night bonus.
"I said 'that's another £50k for me'. I'm never in a boring fight and that is what I said to him, because I'm not!
"I get hit with a big shot, and it was a sloppy takedown attempt from me to be honest. I'm quite disappointed in my performance, but I got the first-round finish and that is all that matters.
"I could have main-evented this one. I was the people's main event," he added.
"I'm not in any rush. If the UFC don't want to put me in a main event yet they don't have to, but I think you saw from the build-up and the adverts, I think they know who the next star is."
Pimblett recently claimed he would 'be bigger' than UFC superstar Conor McGregor, and the sport's rising star was asked about the possibility of a blockbuster showdown against the Irishman.
"Who wouldn't be interested in that fight? If anyone on this roster got offered to fight Conor McGregor they're saying yeah. You're getting pure dough in pay-per-view points."
