Paddy Pimblett could be out for the rest of the year

UFC lightweight Paddy Pimblett said that he expects to be out for the rest of the year recovering from surgery.

UFC lightweight Paddy Pimblett is expected to miss all of 2023 after revealing that he is still recovering from the surgery he had after he fought Jared Gordon in December 2022.

This is very bad news for Pimblett, who won a very controversial decision against Gordon, as he saw his stock go down after that fight and now will presumably spend at least 13 months out of the Octagon. This will put him in need of a big win whenever his return is, but it makes it very clear that he will not return on July’s UFC London card or at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, where fellow England-based fighter Leon Edwards plans to defend his welterweight title.  

Paddy Pimblett doubts he'll return to the 0ctagon in 2023

“I’ll be lucky to fight this year,” said Pimblett told Sky Sports, while nursing crutches. “I had to get surgery after my last fight. I hurt my foot in the first round, in like the first minute or two, threw a kick, hurt it. I felt it, but obviously, we crack on, we get through the fight."

Pimblett is 4-0 in the UFC and was getting close to joining the lightweight rankings, but that now remains in question with what will be over a year off.

Pimblett quickly became one of the UFC’s most hyped-up prospects after being signed off of Dana White’s Contender Series, and finishing his first three UFC opponents.  

This fight also adds to the unlikeliness that Pimblett will ever face off against Ilia Topuria, a fight that fans have wanted since a fight broke out between them before UFC London. The two of them have kept up the feud since then, and Tuporia is rumored to be fighting Josh Emmett in June, as Pimblett watches from the sidelines. 

It is unsure when Pimblett will return to the cage, but one can probably expect that it will be in the first quarter of 2024.