Om allt går rätt för UFC med Paddy Pimblett (18-3) så skulle organisationen kunna ha en framtida brittisk UFC-mästare i sina händer. Detta är vad den tidigare UFC-titelutmanaren Dan Hardy tror.
Dan Hardy: UFC borde matcha Paddy Pimblett varsamtd
Dan Hardy blev den förste engelsmannen att utmana om ett UFC-bälte när han mötte Georges St-Pierre år 2010. Hardy räckte inte till i den matchen då han förlorade mot legendaren St-Pierre via enhälligt domslut. Han tror dock att Pimblett kan lyckas med det han själv misslyckades med.
I en nylig intervju med Ariel Helwani i The MMA Hour förklarade Hardy att UFC borde vara riktigt noga med att inte stressa fram Pimblett till topp-15 innan liverpoolsonen fått bukt med sina brister och utvecklats ytterligare som fighter.
I do like the way they’ve booked him. I think the UFC recognize that Paddy’s still a developing talent. To expect him to be thrown towards the top 15 and to be the same fighter that he was on Cage Warriors, you just can’t expect that.”
The other thing is, the guys he fought, [Luigi] Vendramini and Vargas, they’re not pushovers. They’re tough individuals, they both caught him with good punches, and there’s been moments where Paddy did look like he could lose the fight. So to me, that tells me that they’re matching him correctly for this moment, because those opportunities against other 155ers, they don’t end in him turning that fight around and finishing. They’re gaps that need to be closed before he moves on from the Vargases and the Vendraminis of the division, especially because 155 is a shark tank. It always has been.
You’ve got to make sure you have no real, massive holes in your game by the time you get to [the top of the lightweight division].
Tror absolut att Paddy Pimblett kan bli mästare
Även om det är lite för tidigt att prata om titelmatcher så ser inte Dan Hardy någon anledning till varför Pimblett som har 2-0 i UFC-record inte skulle kunna bli mästare på sikt:
Absolutely. I can’t count anybody out at his age. He’s got everything in front of him, he’s got all of the opportunities, he’s got the fame and the opportunities. Every gym door is going to swing open to him, the Performance Institute will welcome him in and build him up like the next top athlete, because he’s such a valuable commodity to the UFC. As long as he’s dedicated and focused and wants to be a world champion, there’s nothing that could stop him.
“He’s going have to develop, of course. He’s going have to learn. But everybody in the division that’s not currently the champion still has something to add to their game. Very, very few people get to a championship level, and there’s nothing to say Paddy can’t do it. Like I said, there are things he’s got to work on, but he’s still a young guy, 10 fights into his career. Michael Bisping, people counted him out over and over again. I’m not saying we might see Paddy in his early 30s fighting for a belt and winning, but we can’t count him out. With the flare and the aggression and the confidence he has, everything else can be bolted on the sides.
UFC avslöjade nyligen Pimbletts näste motståndare vid nästa gala i London där 27-åringen kommer möta Jordan Leavitt den 23 juli O2 Arena.
