English lightweight Paddy Pimblett has had his sights set on the UFC for years and, after picking up the 16th win of his career at Cage Warriors 122, he’s finally been given his shot.
Pimblett (16-3) emerged on the U.K. scene competing for a host of different domestic promotions, including Olympian MMA Championships, Cage Contender and Full Contact Contender, but it was with Cage Warriors that the young Liverpudlian started to really make waves.
After suffering a quick-fire submission loss to Cameron Else in his second Cage Warriors appearance, Pimblett went on a tear, as he won nine fights in a row, collecting the Cage Warriors and Full Contact Contender featherweight titles along the way.
After successfully defending the Cage Warriors belt against current UFC athlete Julian Erosa in November 2016, a switch to the UFC seemed a near-formality. But then Pimblett lost his title to Nad Narimani, who earned the call-up to the big stage instead.
With his frame growing out of the 145-pound division, Pimblett moved up to lightweight and scored an impressive submission of Alexis Savvidis at Cage Warriors 90 to earn a shot at the vacant 155-pound title. But, despite appearing to have Soren Bak on the verge of defeat in Round 1 after locking up a tight rear-naked choke, the Dane remarkably survived before defeating the Englishman on the scorecards after the full five-round duration.
Pimblett’s hopes of bouncing back quickly were scuppered, however, after planned bouts with Donovan Desmae (three times) and Joe Giannetti fell through. The COVID-19 pandemic threw yet more obstacles in Pimblett’s way, but he eventually returned at Cage Warriors 113 to score a first-round TKO finish of Decky Dalton, who had stepped in on short notice to replace the travel-restricted Italian Davide Martinez.
Pimblett eventually got the chance to meet Martinez, however, as the pair faced off at Cage Warriors 122 in March. Once again, Pimblett rose to the occasion and delivered arguably the most impressive, and important, win of his career before encouraging UFC execs Dana White, Mick Maynard and Sean Shelby to pick up the phone to Cage Warriors head Graham Boylan and get a deal done to bring him to the UFC.
Now 26, Pimblett’s persistence and patience finally paid off when it was announced earlier this week that he had signed for the UFC. Now the effervescent Scouser will bring his own unique style and outgoing personality to the biggest stage in the sport, where he plans on achieving big things in the UFC’s lightweight division.
To mark the occasion, and to celebrate Pimblett’s career to date, Cage Warriors created a special farewell video, highlighting some of his most memorable moments on the U.K. stage. Check out his best bits so far via the video above.
Video: Recap Paddy Pimblett’s Cage Warriors highlights ahead of his UFC debut
