Cormier: Pimblett Winning At UFC London Leads To ‘Similar Situation’ Like McGregor At UFC Dublin

This weekend’s Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) London event (March 19, 2022) has many fans around the globe hyped for several reasons. One of those is returning Lightweight sensation out of Liverpool, Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett.

The former Cage Warriors titleholder is set to take on Rodrigo “Kazula” Vargas in his second Octagon appearance directly before the evening’s co-main event. Pimblett debuted in September 2021 with a first-round knockout of Luigi Vendramini at UFC Vegas 36 (watch highlights). Despite having no crowd in the UFC APEX, the building erupted which left plenty to be desired going forward.

In London, former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier believes we could see a similar emergence to a fellow former champ-champ if Pimblett wins in thrilling fashion.

“You know what I think back to? I think back to Conor McGregor fighting [Diego Brandao] in [Dublin] Ireland,” Cormier said on DC & RC. “He was young in his career, he had barely started, and he got to fight at home in front of those people. It just elevated him, I mean, right away. Conor McGregor was on his way. You strap the rocket ship to his back and he was to the moon. Because next thing you know, they stuck him in Boston where outside of being in Ireland, going to Boston is as close to Ireland as you can get.

“It was like at every turn he took the right step. Pimblett goes and does something special on Saturday, it’ll be the same type of situation. Because everything plays a part. The only thing missing from his debut was that massive explosion from the fans after he did what he did. If he can do that this weekend, he will get that. Then that highlight will play over and over again. You’ll see the people throwing their beers, the crowd will be going insane, they’ll be singing his walkout song. This is a recipe for him and Tom Aspinall to truly propel themselves to the next level of stardom inside the UFC.”

While Cormier got his timeline backward, Conor McGregor fought in Boston then Dublin, his point remains the same.

Though, when looking back at McGregor’s rise specifically, he walked through Marcus Brimage in Stockholm needing only 67-seconds to put away The Ultimate Fighter alum with strikes. This coming before tearing his ACL in a unanimous decision over Max Holloway that left him sidelined for a year. The long anticipation of seeing “The Notorious” return after his first two UFC appearances really aided in launching him at what would be that main event spot in his home of Ireland.

Is the same trajectory still possible for Pimblett? We’ll just have to wait to find out this Saturday.