Chael Sonnen Compares Jon Jones and Paddy Pimblett: “Guys outside a liquor store”
Chael Sonnen has compared Paddy Pimblett to heavyweight champion Jon Jones following his UFC 304 performance.
Pimblett picked up the biggest win of his career as he scored a first-round submission win over Bobby Green to become a ranked opponent at lightweight. Following the win, Sonnen compared Pimblett to Jones by the way he fought against Green.
“(Green) fights like a street fighter. He’s got his hands down; you don’t know what he’s gonna do. He’s talking to you! It’s like two guys outside a liquor store, truly,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel (via MMANews). “You know what? Paddy was dealing with it. It’s hard to deal with ’cause you can’t prepare for it; you can’t prepare for it because your teammates don’t show up drunk talking trash with their hands down.
“Paddy was dealing with it. That is a Jon Jones-esque ability. Jon Jones is the king of fighting fighters that all he has to prepare is videotape,” Sonnen continued. “He’s got some weird guy that’s some kind of a tool that he has to deal with, and Jon doesn’t bring in the partners and doesn’t have the experience, but he watched him on tape and he came up with a plan because he knows the sport well enough. That’s what Paddy just did.”
It was a statement win from Pimblett who is now the 15th-ranked lightweight after UFC 304.
Chael Sonnen Believes Paddy Pimblett is Two Fights Away From A Title Shot
With the win at UFC 304, Paddy Pimblett is now a ranked opponent and Chael Sonnen believes he will be fast-tracked to a title shot.
Sonnen thinks Pimblett is two fights away from a title shot and says Michael Chandler could be a logical next opponent.
“Paddy is two fights away – they’ve got to be the right two fights – but he is two fights away to fighting for a world championship,” Sonnen said. “And I don’t just mean that Dana (White) would sign the match. I mean that guys like (me) would be telling the (MMA) community, ‘This is the right matchup.’ Look through the rankings and eventually you’re going to come to a guy called Michael Chandler. And if Michael Chandler does not get the fight with Conor (McGregor), this, to me, looks like the perfect replacement.”
Paddy Pimblett is a perfect 6-0 in the UFC.
