It could easily be argued that one of the biggest mistakes many of Conor McGregor’s early opponents made was believing he was more hype than reality.
He burst onto the UFC scene declaring that he was going to be a champion in no time. But McGregor consistently backed up everything he said inside the cage.
These days, Paddy Pimblett has taken up the mantle as arguably the most hyped fighter on the UFC roster, with an outspoken attitude and a growing fan base that loves to support him rather loudly. He’s also put together a perfect 3-0 record with three straight finishes in the UFC. McGregor has faced similar criticisms to him, suggesting that he may be a promotion product rather than an actual contender.
Jared Gordon will face Pimblett at UFC 282 December. He refuses to take part in that fight because of “Paddy the Baddy’s” attention.
“Listen, a fight’s a fight,” Gordon said on The MMA Hour. He is a fighter on his feet. I think he’s more dangerous on the feet than people give him credit for and he’s tricky. He’s unpredictable. His streak is big, with three wins in UFC. Anything can happen.
“I think he’s more well prepared, and he has a lot of support, and he has the money now to afford to have nutritionists and other coaches and traveling for training and new ideas and new people. You can sometimes make a big difference in the way things work for you. He is not underestimated. It’s going be an exciting, hard fight .”
If there is one criticism that Pimblett has faced since signing with UFC it’s not that he hasn’t faced stronger, more experienced opponents. However, it’s quickly forgotten that this fight will be his fourth with UFC.
That said, Gordon believes he’ll offer a totally different kind of challenge, and Pimblett will get the opportunity to prove if he’s real or not.
“He’s had three fights, he’s 3-0 with three finishes, and he’s got to get a step up eventually, right?” Gordon said. “I think with our backstory, we’ve been calling each other out, it just makes sense at this point.
” I fought Chris Fishgold, his UFC teammate, before Paddy even was in it. So when Paddy signed, he said that he had named three to four people [he wanted to fight] and I was one. [he said] Since then, every fight, no matter how many, has been a battle between us. This is a great story. Time for a bump in competition.”
Pimblett hasn’t shown any fear stepping into the fire during his UFC fights, including his octagon debut, where he went toe-to-toe with Luigi Vendramini before eventually earning a first-round knockout.
He’s also wrapped up back-to-back rear-naked choke submissions in his past two fights, which have highlighted his considerable grappling skills.
Gordon, on his part, isn’t trying to predict the outcome of his fight against Pimblett, but he’s keeping his eyes open for all possibilities once they start firing in December. 10.
“He’s come in and do what he says he’s going to do,” Gordon said about Pimblett. He’s faced some challenges in his fights and has shown that he is capable of coming back from them and winning. While I don’t think his opponents were the greatest fighters, [there was] there was still a lot pressure on him to perform. He did what he was supposed to do. He’s done his job.
“He’s unpredictable. He is determined to do it. He’s supposed to be a grappler but he goes for it on the feet, too. This is a mixed martial arts fight, and he has a lot of fights. It’s not like he only has 10 fights. He’s got only two less fights than me, so it’s not like he’s inexperienced in that sense. It’s just that he doesn’t see as many UFC matches. They are .”
a lot of what I have seen.
Gordon confesses that he’s never been very good at predicting how his fights will play out, so he’s not going to try and call his shot against Pimblett before they actually clash. If he had to venture a guess, however, he is confident he’ll be able to do to Pimblett what he’s done to so many past opponents.
“I’m not Mystic Mac – I’m Jared from Queens,” Gordon said with a laugh. “I think it’s going to be an action-packed fight. It’s going to be a fun first round. I think I’m going to drown him. He’ll be broken, I believe. That’s just always my style, though.
When someone asks what I think will happen, I’m going to go out there and get the guy tired and grind him out and kick his ass. That’s how a lot of my wins have gone.”
