- Paddy "The Baddy" Pimblett has signed a deal with the
UFC . - He leaves
Cage Warriors as a former featherweight champion with a fervent, built-in fanbase. - Pimblett told us the UFC won't know what hit them, and is targeting a championship already.
With a head kick, a flurry of punches, and a takedown, Paddy "The Baddy" Pimblett moved into rear-mount position and submitted his opponent with a rear-naked choke for an impressive first-round win.
Immediately after making Davide Martinez tap out at the Saturday, March 20 Cage Warriors event, Pimblett stormed around the London canvas to find a rolling camera.
He then looked into the lens and implored the UFC President Dana White to call Cage Warriors boss Graham Boylan. "Come on, lad! Give him a ring," he screamed.
Pimblett didn't know at the time how quickly Boylan would get that call.
Within 48 hours, Boylan called Pimblett to give him good news. "He tried to trick me at first," Pimblett told Insider.
Imitating Boylan, Pimblett said: "'Yeah, we're going to go in this direction, you've got a new contract, but there's only going to be a couple differences. There'll be a different company and a different logo on the front.'
"I was like, 'Yeah?' And he was like, 'Yeah, that's it, lad. We've done it. You're going to the UFC.'"
Pimblett has spent much of his career at Cage Warriors, one of the most prominent
The 26-year-old Pimblett was always confident he'd make the same journey into the world's leading combat
"It was inevitable, weren't it," he told us. "It was always going to happen and now it's finally happened.
"I got the phone call on Monday from Graham after fighting on Saturday. It was a little bit of a shock because it was so fast. There was no negotiating … I just knew.
"I'm sure Graham will share the details when it's announced that I've actually signed. But this is only the beginning - the beginning of a long journey.
"I'm going to be making history."
Pimblett is part of a British invasion
Though Hardy, Bisping, and the Dublin striker McGregor are past success stories for Cage Warriors, the London-based fighting firm is responsible for a new wave of exciting British talent in the UFC.
There's Tom Aspinall, a bruising heavyweight who exhibits extraordinary jiu jitsu, and there's Mason Jones, a former two-weight Cage Warriors king, who won plaudits because of a skillset he showed in a UFC debut loss.
Now there's Pimblett, a fighter who can finish opponents with strikes or submissions but with the added advantage of possessing a rare trait - the gift of the gab.
Pimblett has crowds in the palms of his hands, and it all points towards a modern-day British invasion - a new Beatlemania of sorts, albeit with fisticuffs and ground-and-pound instead of electric guitars and drumsticks.
Pimblett can guarantee sell-out arenas filled with screaming fans but couldn't help but laugh at the comparison.
"It is [like Beatlemania]," Pimblett, who like the Beatles is from Liverpool, said.
"And I look like a fifth Beatle, so it's even more perfect," he added, referencing his signature mop of hair.
He then channeled an immortal and oft-repeated line from McGregor's own rise. "I do hate to use this quote, but we're not here to take part … we're here to take over. I am, anyway.
"I was put on this Earth to do this … to fight, and to give people entertainment. That's why I fight like a little weirdo. Not many people fight like me. I've got my own style. I'm never in a boring fight win or lose.
"I've got people who love me, want to watch me, and see me fight. But there's also people who hate me and want to watch me to see me get beaten up. They all watch me, though, and that's all dollar signs."
Pimblett is targeting a featherweight run in the UFC
Pimblett, like McGregor, has fought at featherweight and at lightweight in Cage Warriors.
Pending medical clearance, the Briton wants to fight at 145 pounds for his initial campaign in the UFC.
"We'll see what happens, but I think I might be going down to 145," he said.
He then talked about the differences between a featherweight division that is home to Alexander Volkanovski, Brian Ortega, and Max Holloway, and lightweight which belongs to McGregor, Dustin Poirier, and Michael Chandler.
"I think the featherweight division is a bit easier than the lightweight division so I'll do what McGregor did. I'll win the featherweight belt and then demand a lightweight title shot.
"I reckon I'll out-talk them all," he told us. "None of them will have any banter compared to me."
He then listed Julian Erosa, who he beat in 2016, as a potential opponent in the months ahead. "He's probably going to want a rematch," Pimblett said.
"The only other people I'm looking at are Jared Gordon because he beat Fishy [Chris Fishgold] and Herbert Burns because his brother [Gilbert Burns] has got a big name and I want to beat him up.
"I'd love to get three fights in this year and just stay in camp after each fight. I want to fight on Fight Island because everybody says you get treated like a king, and I want to get treated like a king for a week or two.
"I want fans back, and when they come back to arenas it will be next level. The walk-outs aren't the same in empty venues.
"It gets me pumped up when I hear other people screaming. When the UFC see that walk-out with the crowd, they'll see dollar signs, 'Woah. This kid's great.' And when the UFC put a mic in front of me, Dana is just going to love it."
The addition of Chandler to the UFC roster last year saw the company acquire a three-time Bellator MMA champion capable of challenging for the 155-pound title, and so he was regarded as the signing of the year.
Pimblett sees himself as the signing of 2021. "I'm the biggest signing of the year, 100%. I'm the biggest signing of the decade, and the biggest signing since the millennium," he said.
And on his ambitions, Pimblett didn't hold back: "I'd love to have the UFC title wrapped around me, maybe even two."
If belts were awarded for talking, he'd already have them won.