Paddy Pimblett Expects To Join The UFC, Wants Jared Gordon In Debut

Former Cage Warriors featherweight champion Paddy Pimblett is expecting to join the UFC in the near future and is already eyeing up a fight with Jared Gordon for his promotional debut.

‘The Baddy’ returns to the cage on March 20 after a full year away from the sport.

Pimblett will take on Italian lightweight fighter Davide Martinez (8-2) at CW122 in London, England.

The 26-year-old told LowKickMMA that he expects to join the UFC after beating Martinez next month.  

“To be honest I think after this fight I’m off,” Pimblett said.

Pimblett has twice been offered the chance to join the UFC but turned them down. ‘The Baddy’ assures he won’t be saying no for a third time.

“The first time when they offered me (a UFC contract) I was only a kid and Cage Warriors had just offered me the best deal for a UK MMA fighter ever, so I took it,” Pimblett said.

“The second time I had hand surgery and a title fight in the (Liverpool) Echo Arena, so I never took it,” Pimblett added. “But, this time I know for a fact. Win this fight and get a nice finish then they’ll be wanting to sign me and then I’m off. Fight Island here we come.”

‘The Baddy’ is hoping he’ll be able to exact revenge in his UFC debut.

“There’s one,” Pimblett said when asked if he had any potential opponents in mind for his UFC debut. “It’s just because he beat Fishy (Chris Fishgold) you know what I mean? Jared Gordon. I’d love to fight Jared Gordon. That would be a lovely debut for me. As that is someone who I think I would knock out, to be honest”

Do you think Paddy Pimblett will join the UFC if he beat Davide Martinez on March 20?