UFC News: Who is Paddy Pimblett?

Get introduced to England’s Paddy Pimblett, becoming the latest lightweight to sign with the UFC after a stint in Cage Warriors.

Paddy Pimblett is officially a member of the UFC roster. The former Cage Warriors standout will join the lightweight division after enjoying a long and illustrious career with the European-based promotion. ESPN’s Ariel Helwani was first to report the news Monday afternoon.

Pimblett currently sits at 16-3, having competed under the Cage Warriors banner since 2013, and has won his last two outings against Decky Dalton and Davide Martinez. His most recent bout with Martinez turned some heads, as he won via rear-naked-choke at 1:37 of the first round. Pimblett made it clear that the UFC is his next destination, and now he gets his chance.

In 19 appearances, Pimblett has finished 12 of his victories with six of them coming inside of the first round. He also holds a victory against current UFC fighter Jullian Erosa, where he earned a unanimous decision in Nov. 2016.

Pimblett’s last loss came at the hands of Soren Balk in Sept.. 2018, having gone nearly three years undefeated ahead of his first Octagon appearance. Prior to the loss, Pimblett strung together a flying triangle choke victory against Alexis Savvidis, finishing the fight just 36 seconds into the second round during Cage Warriors 96. The Next Generation U.K. product has not seen a judge’s scorecard since his last blemish, as the majority of his fights finish rather quickly.

Paddy Pimblett has drawn comparisons to Conor McGregor

Pimblett and Conor McGregor spent the first half of their careers with Cage Warriors, as McGregor went on to become the biggest star in MMA. While it is currently unknown as to if Pimblett can duplicate McGregor’s meteoric rise, Pimblett did become a featherweight champion during his stint and will look to carry over the momentum that McGregor had when he signed in 2013.

For now, though, only time will tell.