Paul Felder questions if Paddy Pimblett can beat any top-15 UFC lightweight: ‘i really don’t think so’

Former lightweight contender, Paul Felder has claimed it’s doubtful that recent winner, Paddy Pimblett can land a triumph over any top-15 lightweight contender in the promotion, off the back of his UFC 296 win over former interim champion, Tony Ferguson last month.

Pimblett, who turned in his fourth consecutive victory at UFC 296 last month, landing a one-sided unanimous decision win over Ferguson, handing the Oxnard veteran his seventh straight loss. 

Prior to that, Paddy Pimblett battled to a dubious unanimous decision win over Jared Gordon two years ago, following a pair of stoppage wins over both Jordan Leavitt, and Luigi Vendramini.

Paddy Pimblett’s ability called into question

Receiving criticizm from former interim welterweight champion, Colby Covington – who poked fun at the Liverpool native’s ability, Pimblett’s ability to also defeat any lightweight within the top-15 rankings has been highly doubted by Philadelphia favorite, Felder.

“Can Paddy (Pimblett) beat anyone in the top-15?” Paul Felder asked on the UFC ‘Round-Up’ show, “I will start with this: Of course he can. We know that it’s MMA – anything can happen. But if we were going to sit here and make bets, and if I had to predict: No, I really don’t think so. He struggled to ever get Tony (Ferguson) out of there who looked the worst he’s ever looked in his career.”

“He was able to hurt Tony a little bit, but he really should have been able to put him away,” Felder explained. “Not taking anything away from him – he knew he was going to be in for a hard one, even if he won this fight. He said it in the media days leading up that we were going to criticize him even if he wins, if he didn’t go out there and maybe get him out of there. So, here we are criticizing him.” 

What’s next for Paddy Pimblett after his UFC 296 win?