Lightweight Paddy Pimblett more than delivered on home-crowd expectations after earning a first-round submission victory over Kazula Vargas at UFC London tonight.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Pimblett, however, who was caught early and taken down. But the Liverpudlian rebounded to take the back of Vargas, sink in a rear-naked choke, and get his second UFC win before a delirious O2 Arena crowd.
Pimblett, a former Cage Warriors featherweight champion, is now 18-3 as a professional mixed martial artist, and after two first-round finishes in as many UFC bouts, the 27-year-old is on the cusp of becoming one of the promotion’s biggest stars.
You can catch all the highlights of “The Baddy’s” win below.
Shows how important personality, charisma, and talking skills are in MMA. How big did that fight feel? UFC is entertainment at the end of the day, and Paddy is entertaining as hell. #UFCLondon
Rising UFC lightweight star Paddy Pimblett has described his upcoming fight at UFC London this weekend as a “lose-lose” situation.
In 2021, Pimblett burst onto the scene in MMA’s leading promotion with a memorable debut. After much anticipation for his first walk following a March signing, Pimblett was matched up with Luigi Vendramini on the main card of UFC Vegas 36 last September.
Despite appearing to be hurt early on, “The Baddy” found his rhythm as the first round developed, eventually making good on his pre-fight prediction by knocking the Brazilian out before the end of the opening frame.
But despite looking forward to his first outing of 2022, Pimblett also sees his sophomore clash on the sport’s biggest stage as a lose-lose scenario.
During an interview with BT Sport’s Nick Peet, Pimblett suggested that because most fans expect him to dispatch Vargas with ease, there’s little upside to a comfortable victory. On the flip side, a defeat would be extremely damaging.
“I’ve said this, this fight’s a lose-lose for me,” claimed Pimblett. “Everyone’s like, ‘Ah, he should be winning anyway.’ But if I lost the fight, they’d be like, ‘Ah, he’s a hype train.’ If I win the fight, ‘Ah, he should’ve won anyway.’ For him (Vargas) lad, it’s a win-win. He comes over and beats me, ‘Ah, [MUTED].’ He gets beat, ‘Ah, he was meant to lose anyway.’ Know what I mean?”
Pimblett: All I Know Is I’m Beating This Mexican Up
Nevertheless, Pimblett isn’t focusing too much on people’s opinions. That’s true now and whatever the result of the main card today will be. All the Liverpudlian is thinking about is getting his hand raised after a second consecutive first-round triumph.
“Opinions mean nothing lad. As Paul (Reed) says, opinions mean nothing. Actions mean something,” asserted Pimblett. “So people’s opinions, they can stick them up their arse lad. I don’t care. All I know is I’m getting in this cage and I’m beating this Mexican up for half-a-round before the referee stops it or he goes to sleep.”
Vargas and Pimblett will square off on the UFC London main card in front of what should be a raucous crowd at The O2 Arena. This will be Pimblett’s second fight in the UFC, and first in the U.K. since his time in Cage Warriors.
Vargas is looking to steal the show and earn a big win over Pimblett. He’s coming off of a unanimous decision win over Zhu Rong at UFC 261 last year.
Pimblett earned the main card slot due to a massive following. But, Vargas isn’t sure if Pimblett is deserving of the added attention this early in his UFC tenure.
During his UFC London pre-fight press conference, Vargas questioned whether or not Pimblett’s accolades in MMA are worth the intense hype ahead of their fight.
“It’s normal for him to have all this hype, he’s from London and most of his fights have been here. But I actually think he’s a bit of a kid. He’s got good things, but he’s got a lot of bad things as well.
“He’s probably overrated.”
Vargas went on to explain why he feels Pimblett is overrated and what he’s taken from his past performances.
“I haven’t seen all of his fights, but I’ve seen about five or six. I think he’s got a lot of holes in his fights and we’ll try to take advantage of that. But like all UFC fighters, we’re here because we’re the best and we’ll try to take advantage of those holes.”
Pimblett was arguably the biggest signing by the UFC in 2021, following a decorated stint in Cage Warriors. His debut arguably lived up to the immense hype with a first-round knockout of Luigi Vendramini last September.
Vargas is looking to back up his claim that Pimblett is overrated this weekend at UFC London. If he’s able to earn a win over Pimblett, he may steal some of his hype in the process.
What is your prediction for Kazula Vargas vs. Paddy Pimblett?
“The Baddy” Pimblett is scheduled to make his second UFC appearance on March 19, facing Kazula Vargas in a lightweight bout. The fight is expected to take place at UFC’s return to the O2 Arena in London England. News of the fight was first reported by MMA Fight Club and later confirmed by multiple sources.
It was previously mentioned by UFC President Dana White that Pimblett would make his return this year against Jared Gordon. However, that matchup was later denied by the management team of both Pimblett and Gordon.
Pimblett Coming Off Strong UFC Debut
Credit: Dolly Clew, Cage Warriors
Pimblett will be attempting to follow up his hectic UFC debut. He won his UFC debut in September 2021, stopping Luigi Vendramini late in the first round of a quick back-and-forth battle.
Pimblett is known for his entertaining fighting style and his charisma as a person. He had a long run in Cage Warriors before his UFC run, resulting in numerous title fights between 2016 to 2018.
Vargas is also coming off his first UFC victory. The former Combate Americas fighter snapped a two-fight skid in April, returning to the cage against Rongzhu for a unanimous decision win.
Pimblett is joining a card that already has a strong lineup of fighters that train out of England. The event is reportedly also expected to include names like Tom Aspinall and Molly McCann, along with the UFC debuts of Muhammad Mokaev and Jake Hadley.
Here’s the updated lineup for UFC’s March 19th show:
Heavyweight Bout: Alexander Volkov vs. Tom Aspinall
Lightweight Bout: Paddy Pimblett vs. Kazula Vargas
Featherweight Bout: Mike Grundy vs. Makwan Amirkhani
Bantamweight Bout: Jack Shore vs. Timur Valiev
Flyweight Bout: Molly McCann vs. Luana Carolina
Flyweight Bout: Muhammad Mokaev vs. Cody Durden
Strawweight Bout: Elise Reed vs. Cory McKenna
Flyweight Bout: Jake Hadley vs. Allan Nascimento
What do you think about Paddy Pimblett’s matchup at UFC London?
