Tag: Paddy Pimblett

Guram Kutateladze wants to welcome Paddy Pimblett to UFC, Pimblett responds

Guram Kutateladze wants to add another former champion to his resume.

[autotag]Guram Kutateladze[/autotag] wants to add another former champion to his resume.

Kutateladze (12-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who bounced former KSW dual-champ Mateusz Gamrot out of the ranks of the unbeaten in his UFC debut in October, wants to welcome another former champion to the organization.

This time, former Cage Warriors lightweight champ [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] (16-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who became an official member of the UFC roster earlier this week.

Kutateladze was scheduled to face Don Madge at UFC Fight Night 187 in March, but a torn left meniscus that required surgery forced him to withdraw. Currently on the mend, Kutateladze is angling for a summer showdown with Pimblett, who seemed rather dismissive of him.

Pimblett’s response ignited a back-and-forth between the pair, drawing a fiery response from Kutateladze.

It’s barely been a week and Pimblett has already made headlines, even getting into it with Kutateladze’s fans on Twitter. Fresh off his first-round finish of Davide Martinez at Cage Warriors 122, the proud Scouser has finished five of his past six wins and has mentioned the likes of Herbert Burns, Julian Erosa and Jared Gordon as potential opponents for his UFC debut.

Check out the back-and-forth between Pimblett and Kutateladze below.

Former Cage Warriors champion Paddy Pimblett signs with UFC

Paddy Pimblett joins the UFC roster.

After years of wanting a shot at the UFC, [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] finally got it.

Pimblett, a former Cage Warriors featherweight champion, recently signed a contract with the sport’s biggest organization. The news was announced by the UFC’s official European Twitter account on Monday afternoon.

Pimblett (16-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is coming off a first-round rear-naked choke win over Davide Martinez at Cage Warriors 122 on March 20. He said he would sign with the UFC after the win.

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“The Baddy” has been a notable name outside of the UFC for several years, as he’s a colorful figure and an accomplished fighter. Pimblett won the Cage Warriors 145-pounds title in 2016 and defended it once before losing it to Nad Narimani the following year.

Since losing the featherweight belt, Pimblett moved up to the lightweight division, where he’s competed four times, including a decision loss for the vacant lightweight title to Soren Bak. Pimblett is 3-1 in his last four performances.

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Cage Warriors 122: Paddy Pimblett tells UFC bosses to give him a call after 97-second win

Former Cage Warriors featherweight champion Paddy Pimblett called for a shot in the UFC after a 97-second win at Cage Warriors 122.

Former Cage Warriors featherweight champion [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] says he’s ready to step up to the big time with the UFC.

Pimblett needed just 97 seconds to finish Italy’s [autotag]Davide Martinez[/autotag] in the lightweight co-main event of Cage Warriors 122 in London as the proud Liverpudlian delivered a statement performance, then approached one of the cageside cameras and delivered a message to UFC president Dana White and matchmaker Sean Shelby, telling them to give him a call and get him signed.

Pimblett looked relaxed and calm as he assessed the range and timing of his opponent in the opening seconds of the bout, then the Englishman exploded into life with a remarkable sequence of techniques that ended with a submission finish.

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Pimblett connected with a big head kick, then followed up with punches as he backed Martinez up against the cage. He then launched into a flying knee and landed in the clinch, then followed up with a judo throw as he took his man down to the canvas. Once the fight was on the mat, Pimblett swiftly transitioned to Martinez’s back and locked up a rear-naked choke to force the tap at the 1:37 mark.

https://twitter.com/CageWarriors/status/1373390722846576640

Before the fight, Pimblett declared that it would be his final bout for Cage Warriors and that he would end up being signed by the UFC. After his eighth submission victory, and the 12th inside-the-distance win of his career overall, Pimblett is clearly hoping his latest finish will finally see him get his shot on the world stage.

Cage Warriors 122 live results

France’s Morgan Charriere puts his featherweight title on the line on the final leg of Cage Warriors’ first “Trilogy” event of 2021.

The final leg of Cage Warriors’ first “Trilogy” series of 2021 features one of the biggest rising stars of European MMA as he looks to defend his newly won title.

France’s [autotag]Morgan Charriere[/autotag] (16-7-1) captured the Cage Warriors featherweight title with a body-shot knockout of Perry Goodwin at Cage Warriors 119 in December and now “The Last Pirate” will return to action at Cage Warriors 122 as he puts his belt on the line for the first time against top contender, England’s [autotag]Jordan Vucenic[/autotag] (7-1), in the main event.

Also set to return is another of Cage Warriors’ most recognizable stars. Former featherweight champion [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] (15-3) is has his sights set on a UFC contract, and will be looking to deliver another irresistible performance when he takes on Italy’s [autotag]Davide Martinez[/autotag] (8-2) in the co-main event.

Cage Warriors 122 takes place Saturday at York Hall, Bethnal Green, London. The card streams on UFC Fight Pass.

Full Cage Warriors 122 results include:

MAIN CARD (4:00 p.m. ET, UFC Fight Pass)

  • Champ Morgan Charriere vs. Jordan Vucenic – for featherweight title
  • Davide Martinez vs. Paddy Pimblett
  • Tobias Harila vs. Aidan Stephen
  • Brian Bouland vs. Liam Gittins
  • Corrin Eaton vs. Jean N’Doye

PRELIMINARY CARD (2:30 p.m. ET, UFC Fight Pass)

  • Nathan Fletcher vs. Michele Martignoni
  • Yassine Belhadj vs. Tom Mearns
  • Nicolas Leblond vs. Darren O’Gorman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CjpxuSlLJY

Cage Warriors 122: Davide Martinez vs. Paddy Pimblett confirmed for London finale

Former Cage Warriors featherweight champion Paddy Pimblett will return to action in London against Italy’s Davide Martinez.

One of Cage Warriors’ biggest stars is locked and loaded for the final leg of the U.K. promotion’s latest “Trilogy” series.

Former Cage Warriors featherweight champion [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] returns to action against in-form Italian [autotag]Davide Martinez[/autotag] in a lightweight bout at Cage Warriors 122, which takes place Saturday, Mar. 20 at the York Hall in London. The event streams live on UFC Fight Pass.

After a frustrating spell on the sidelines that saw four fights scrapped, Pimblett (15-3) returned to action last March and defeated short-notice opponent Decky Dalton at Cage Warriors 113 after Martinez (8-2) was unable to travel to the U.K. for the bout due to COVID restrictions in Italy.

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Now the pair have been rebooked to face off on the third night of Cage Warriors’ latest three-night residency at the iconic London boxing venue, with Pimblett stating his happiness at finding an opponent willing to step up to face him.

“I hope he’s ready for a scrap come fight night, because I’m coming to make a statement,” said Pimblett, via press release. “I’m happy to have a new opponent to focus on, and want to thank Davide for taking the fight as he’s the only person to actually want to fight me. Everyone else talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk.”

Martinez, who is set to make his Cage Warriors debut, is riding a six-fight winning streak, but has not competed since July 2019.

With the addition, the fight card for Cage Warriors 122 includes:

  • Champion Morgan Charriere vs. Jordan Vucenic – for featherweight title
  • Davide Martinez vs. Paddy Pimblett

Combat Rewind, May 3: Yeah, Raymond Daniels knows a thing or two about striking

Check out the best highlights from this day in history with MMA Junkie’s “Combat Rewind.”

There’s “Flashback Friday” and “Throwback Thursday” (and Tuesday, too, if you want). But at MMA Junkie, we figured why not expand that to every day?

“Combat Rewind” brings you some of combat sports’ best highlights from every calendar day of the year. It’s a look back at history, courtesy of the UFC Fight Pass archives, featuring stellar finishes and classic moments in MMA and beyond on their anniversaries.

So kick back and relive the following bits of greatness in the video above:

  • GLORY 16: [autotag]Zack Mwekessa[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Pat Barry[/autotag] – May 3, 2014
  • Shooto Japan in Korakuen Hall: [autotag]Hiroyuki Takaya[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Stephen Palling[/autotag] – May 3, 2004
  • Cage Warriors 68: [autotag]Danny Roberts[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jim Wallhead[/autotag] – May 3, 2014
  • Shooto Japan in Korakuen Hall: [autotag]Rumina Sato[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Erikas Petralis[/autotag] – May 3, 2004
  • Cage Warriors 68: [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Conrad Hayes[/autotag] – May 3, 2014
  • GLORY 16: [autotag]Raymond Daniels[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Francois Ambang[/autotag] – May 3, 2014

Fight footage courtesy of UFC Fight Pass, the UFC’s official digital subscription service, which is currently offering a seven-day free trial. UFC Fight Pass gives fans access to exclusive live UFC events and fights, exclusive live MMA and combat sports events from around the world, exclusive original and behind the scenes content and unprecedented 24-7 access to the world’s biggest fight library.

Paddy Pimblett eyes UFC call, praises safety measures after Cage Warriors 113 win

Paddy Pimblett hinted at a potential call-up from the UFC after his first-round win at Cage Warriors 113.

[autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] returned to the cage after 18 months, picked up a win and hinted that his oft-mooted move to the UFC might finally materialize in the near future.

Pimblett (15-3) defeated short-notice opponent Decky Dalton (11-5) by first-round TKO on Friday at Cage Warriors 113, and said he was just relieved to get back into the swing of things after so long away.

“It’s been that long out the cage, it’s nearly 19 months now,” Pimblett told Cage Warriors’ Edith Labelle backstage at the BEC Arena in Manchester, England. “I just wanted to get back in. I wanted to get hit in the face and I wanted to hit him in the face, instead of just sparring in the gym, but it went perfect. I’ve come out unscathed, I haven’t got a mark on me. I think I took one left hook – he hit me with it and it woke me up. I’m a bit lazy at first, he hit me with the left hook and woke me up, and from there on it was just me.”

Pimblett looked close to securing a submission finish via rear-naked choke, but ended up flattening out Dalton and sealing the win with ground and pound. It may have looked like a change of plan mid-fight, but Pimblett explained he’d predicted the finish to his coach prior to entering the cage.

“I hit him with a nice one-two down the pipe, checked a kick and ended up on top,” Pimblett said. “Then it was me, with ease, then. As soon as I get your back, that’s it. As soon as I got the back I knew it was the start of the end. As everyone knows, 18 months ago with my bad hand I couldn’t finish the choke (against Soren Bak), so with that one I didn’t just squeeze, I didn’t just go for the choke. I wanted to work on other stuff. I’d said to Paul before, I said to my coach, ‘If I take his back I’m going to flatten him out and I’m going to pound him.’

“Hats off to Decky. I can’t thank Decky enough. He’s a proper fighter. He got in there with me on two weeks’ notice when no one else in the U.K. would. Never mind Europe, no one else in the U.K. would. So I respect Decky, I can’t thank him enough for stepping in and getting in there with me, but there’s levels to this (expletive) and I’m just levels above.”

The fight capped off 18 months of frustration for Pimblett, who suffered injury and multiple fight cancellations before finally returning to action in Manchester. But when UFC on ESPN+ 29 in London, originally scheduled for the following night, was postponed, Pimblett feared his bad luck was set to continue.

“When Molly (McCann’s UFC London fight) got canceled I thought, ‘Surely ours is next to go.’ I thought, ‘I’m the unluckiest kid on the planet.’ What happened last time with that fat bum (a reference to Joe Giannetti, who missed weight for their planned bout last November), my injuries before that, and then a week out I was sitting at ours, looking at cake and thinking, ‘Should I eat this cake or keep drinking this water? Cake? Water?’ I just kept drinking the water and kept the faith.”

That faith was repaid when the event finally went ahead in Manchester, where he opened the main card with a dominant performance. While some may instantly link him with a title fight against newly-crowned lightweight champion Mason Jones, Pimblett hinted that bigger things could potentially be around the corner.

“After a dominant performance like that, in half a round, you never know who’s going to come calling, do you?” Pimblett said. “We’re open to all offers, so we’ll see. I was speaking to Joe (McColgan) yesterday and Mason before, and if they ever want to get it on in the future, I’m always here. I’ll fight anyone. I won’t back down to anyone, and I’ll fight for that belt, I want that belt. But I’m sick of people asking me, ‘When are you going to the UFC?’ So when the coronavirus gets to (expletive), we’ll see what happens.”

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Pimblett also had a word for the additional safety measures introduced for the event, with multiple doctor checkups, plus social distancing measures, imposed for the show that meant he was stopped from coming down to cageside to watch his teammate fight earlier in the night.

“The guidelines were perfect,” Pimblett said. “I don’t see how anyone can bat an eyelid at it. I came down to watch a teammate of mine who fought earlier, but the health and safety precautions in the way, I got told I had to go back to the changing room, we couldn’t have a certain amount of people in there. Anyone that thinks this is unsafe is wrapped in cotton wool. Going to shops more people are touching and being closer to each other. Everyone is a drama queen who’s saying this show should have got canceled.

“I put my heart and soul into this and for this to have got pulled six days out, no one would have been saying how unfair it was on me or the other fighters on this card who were trying to earn a living and make money for their families. People don’t look past that. We put our heart and soul into this and I wouldn’t let someone take that away from you without kicking and screaming. (Expletive) coronavirus.”

Cage Warriors 113 results: Mason Jones takes lightweight belt behind closed doors in Manchester

The show went on Friday, as Mason Jones finished Joe McColgan in the first round to capture the lightweight title at Cage Warriors 113.

Unbeaten Welshman [autotag]Mason Jones[/autotag] rose to the occasion on the biggest night of his career to capture the vacant Cage Warriors lightweight title at Cage Warriors 113 in Manchester.

The event played out to a virtually empty BEC Arena, after being moved from the show’s original venue in London due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the lack of fan support in the stands certainly didn’t seem to affect the performances of the fighters, who served up a succession of entertaining fights throughout the card. But undoubtedly the biggest winner of the night was Jones (9-0), nicknamed “The Dragon,” who stopped Northern Ireland’s [autotag]Joe McColgan[/autotag] in the first round of their five-round title tussle in the night’s co-main event.

Jones and McColgan (6-3-1) both came out swinging from the opening bell, then clinched against the fence, where Jones scored with a succession of knees to the Northern Irishman’s thigh. McColgan then threatened with a choke as the pair finally separated and returned to the stand-up.

With the fight back in the striking realm, Jones scored consistently with kicks to McColgan’s lead leg, while the “SBG Hunter” fired back with a big knee to Jones’ chin. But it was to be a knee from Jones that proved the difference-maker as the Welshman unloaded a barrage of punches to his opponent against the fence, then landed a powerful knee up and through McColgan’s guard to send him crashing to the canvas.

Jones swiftly moved in and applied the finishing touches to the fight with some heavy ground strikes as referee Rich Mitchell stopped the bout at the 2:51 mark.

‘The Butcher’ gets bloodied, but still gets the win

The night’s main event saw a pair of UFC stalwarts go head to head, and it quickly turned into a bloodbath as [autotag]Bartosz Fabinski[/autotag] was busted up in the first round, but battled through to earn the unanimous decision win against England’s [autotag]Darren Stewart[/autotag].

Fabinski’s forward pressure saw him score a first-round takedown, but a slicing elbow to the head left Fabinski with a nasty cut above his ear that proceeded to bleed throughout the rest of the fight. Despite his wound, Fabinski used his top pressure to hold the advantage through the first two rounds as he kept Stewart largely on his back and nullified the heavy-handed Brit’s striking threat.

Stewart turned the tables at the start of Round 3 as he scored a big takedown of his own, but he was unable to capitalize as Fabinski used his ground game to return to top position and grind on “The Dentist” for the majority of the round.

The frustration was written all over Stewart’s face as he struggled to work his way back to his feet, but it was “The Butcher” who cemented the win with a big late-round takedown to put the seal on a unanimous decision victory with scores of 30-27 on all three scorecards.

‘The’ Bear refuses to be ‘Bagged and Tagged’

Two of the quirkier nicknames of the night went toe to toe as Frenchman [autotag]David Bear[/autotag] took on [autotag]Nathan Jones[/autotag] in a battle between “The” Bear and “Mr. Bag and Tag.” In the end, it was France’s Bear (9-1) who picked up a unanimous decision win after dominating the grappling exchanges through a grueling three-round welterweight battle.

Bear started out working the outside, using his low leg kicks against Jones (13-10), who looked to push the pace in the early exchanges. But it was the Frenchman who seemed to have the better of the striking as he stepped in and connected with good timing during the first round.

But with both men renowned for their mat abilities, it was only a matter of time before the action hit the deck, and it was Bear who landed the takedown and moved to side control as he looked to assert himself on the mat. Jones smartly avoided an arm-triangle choke, but in his attempt to roll away from danger fell into a guillotine choke as the horn sounded to end the round.

There was more top control domination from Bear in Round 2 as he stifled Jones’ submission game by staying heavy and compact from the top position throughout the middle round, leaving Jones needing something big in the final round to turn the fight in his favor.

Early into Round 3, the Brit came out aggressively and connected with a big overhand right that stunned Bear. But, once again, the Frenchman managed to take the Brit to the mat and, after smartly avoiding Jones’ attempt to lock up a triangle choke, he returned to side control and returned to a dominant position on the mat once again. Jones managed to reverse position, but was unable to lock up the finish he needed as the bout went all the way to the scorecards, with Bear taking all three rounds on all three scorecards to claim the shutout win.

‘The Baddy’ ends 18-month hiatus with swift stoppage

Former Cage Warriors featherweight champion [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] (15-3) twice looked close to securing a rear-naked choke, but eventually swapped submissions for strikes to score a first-round finish on his return to action.

A combination of injuries and fighter withdrawals conspired to leave Pimblett on the shelf for the past 18 months, but the ebullient Liverpool native was determined to make a statement on his return in Manchester against short-notice opponent [autotag]Decky Dalton[/autotag] (11-5), and he did just that.

Dalton started out looking to strike, but after slipping to the ground during a kick attempt, Pimblett pounced and ensured the Irishman wouldn’t return to his feet until the fight was over.

When Dalton slipped, Pimblett instantly took Dalton’s back, secured a body triangle and worked a rear-naked choke as he chased an early submission finish. Dalton toughed out the first submission attempt, then frustrated Pimblett’s follow-up attempt as the Scouser looked to lock up the choke at the second time of asking.

But, after Dalton survived once again, Pimblett switched gears, flipped Dalton onto his front, flattened him out on the mat and let fly with some big ground strikes until referee Rich Mitchell intervened to stop the action at the 2:51 mark.

Full Cage Warriors 113 results include:

MAIN CARD (5 p.m. ET)

  • Bartosz Fabinski def. Darren Stewart via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
  • Mason Jones def. Joe McColgan via TKO (knee and punches) – Round 1, 4:40
  • David Bear def. Nathan Jones via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Paddy Pimblett def. Decky Dalton via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 2:51

PRELIMINARY CARD

  • Perry Goodwin def. Steve Aimable via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
  • Coner Hignett def. Darren O’Gorman via knockout (punch) – Round 3, 2:12
  • Adam Amarasinghe def. Jake Bond via knockout (knee and punch) – Round 1, 4:59
  • Jamie Richardson def. Matthew Bonner via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
  • James Hendin def. Kris Edwards via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-25)
  • Aidan Stephen def. Jack Collins via TKO (elbows) – Round 1, 1:24
  • Kingsley Crawford def. Lewis Monarch via submission (triangle choke) – Round 2, 2:45

Video: Warm up for Cage Warriors 113 with 10 classic finishes from the U.K. promotion

Ahead of Cage Warriors 113 this weekend, recap 10 memorable performances from some of the promotion’s biggest stars.

In a world where everything is shutting down and the sporting world is grinding to a halt, U.K.-based MMA promotion Cage Warriors simply refuses to be denied.

With the world in crisis during the COVID-19 outbreak, the promotion has been forced to take its event behind closed doors, move to a different city and shuffle the lineup several times over. Still, while other MMA promotions, including the UFC, have postponed their current schedule, Cage Warriors has been committed to getting this fight card in the books.

It all means Friday night’s Cage Warriors 113 event will be the only major MMA show to take place anywhere in the world this weekend, with UFC Fight Pass likely to pick up a huge audience as fans flock to the streaming platform to get their fix of live MMA action.

Ahead of the event, we’ve dived into Cage Warriors’ archive to dig out this video, which showcases the sort of action you can expect to see from the European promotion. You’ll recognize most of the names here, too, with the likes of [autotag]Nathaniel Wood[/autotag], [autotag]Jack Marshman[/autotag], [autotag]Jack Hermansson[/autotag], [autotag]Joanna Jedrzejczyk[/autotag] and [autotag]Molly McCann[/autotag] all going on to join the UFC after fighting for Cage Warriors.

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ONE Championship heavyweight [autotag]Mauro Cerilli[/autotag] is also featured, as is one of the big stars of Friday’s card, [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag]. There’s even a cameo from a young Irishman by the name of [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag].

The fighters on Friday’s card all harbor dreams of making it to the big stage with the UFC, and will be looking to produce the sort of performance to match those in the video above.

Check out the highlight reel above and relive some of the performances that helped some of Cage Warriors’ alumni earn their shot at the big time.

The latest Cage Warriors 113 card includes:

MAIN CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 5 p.m. ET )

  • Bartosz Fabinski vs. Darren Stewart
  • Mason Jones vs. Joe McColgan – for vacant lightweight title
  • David Bear vs. Nathan Jones
  • Decky Dalton vs. Paddy Pimblett

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 2:30 p.m. ET)

  • Steve Aimable vs. Perry Goodwin
  • Coner Hignett vs. Darren O’Gorman
  • Adam Amarasinghe vs. Jake Bond
  • Matthew Bonner vs. Jamie Richardson
  • Kris Edwards vs. James Hendin
  • Jack Collins vs. Aidan Stephen
  • Kingsley Crawford vs. Lewis Monarch

Paddy Pimblett can’t wait to return and steal the show at Cage Warriors 113

Former featherweight champion Paddy Pimblett chats to MMA Junkie ahead of his long-awaited return to action at Cage Warriors 113.

[autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] is keener than most to keep the show rolling at Cage Warriors 113 on Friday.

The former Cage Warriors featherweight champion is coming off a loss and hasn’t fought in 18 months after a sequence of unfortunate events saw four fight bookings fall by the wayside. But now, thanks to the arrival of late-notice opponent Decky Dalton (11-4), Pimblett (14-3) looks to end one of the most frustrating spells of his career with a win.

“Tell me about it!” he told MMA Junkie when asked about the frustration of spending so long away from the cage. “It’s been (expletive) hard work, and it’s been doing my head in. I should have fought in November (against Joe Giannetti) but the (expletive) missed weight, on purpose. Then I’ve had to sit out another four months and wait and just continue the way I was. Then finally, a week out, 10 days or so, everyone’s saying the show’s going to get canceled.”

Pimblett was originally slated to face Donovan Desmae at Cage Warriors 113. Then, after the Belgian contender was forced to withdraw, Italian Davide Martinez slotted in before the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent travel bans in Italy meant he was unable to make it to England. Now Pimblett has his third opponent as he takes on Ireland’s Decky Dalton, who agreed to step in on just a week’s notice after competing – and winning – at a regional event last weekend.

“Last Monday I got told I didn’t have an opponent, so I’m thinking, ‘(Expletive), I haven’t got a fight again,'” Pimblett said. “Then I got one. Decky Dalton, give him his due, said ‘yes.’ I had high hopes thinking, ‘Yeah! It’s finally going to happen,’ then I started getting phone calls off people saying the show’s getting canceled!”

Despite those rumors, the event will indeed go ahead, with Cage Warriors announcing Monday night that it was moving its behind-closed-doors card to Manchester’s BEC Arena following the closure of indigo at The O2 in London. The event will be the only major MMA event to take place this weekend, meaning Pimblett and his fellow fighters are likely to get a huge audience, even though they will be fighting in an empty arena on the night.

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“Everyone’s going to be watching it, and that does fire me up,” he said. “It’s going to get great exposure, everyone’s going to be looking at it. It’s the only MMA show that’s going to be on; it’s the only one.”

Pimblett always brings a party atmosphere to his fights, as he bounces his way to the cage to his walkout song, Basement Jaxx’s “Where’s Your Head At?” Even though there will be no fans in the building on Friday night, Pimblett says he’ll be bringing the energy to the BEC Arena, as usual.

“Yeah, of course!” he said. “When my song comes on, it just takes over. The crowd always picks me up and electrifies me, but the song does, as well. That’s why I’ve never changed my song. It always gets me going.

“It’s been 18 months since I last fought, so I just want to get in the cage and fight, you know what I mean? I can’t be having this corona (expletive) putting me back even more, because it looks like after this there’s not going to be many shows for a while.”

The fact that Pimblett is going to be one of the biggest names on a card that is sure to receive huge exposure means there could be a good number of fight fans watching one of his fights for the first time. When asked about that, the always-confident Liverpudlian fired straight back.

“Where’ve they been hiding if they’ve never seen me fight before? Where the (expletive) have they been hiding! What rock have they been under?” he asked. “Everyone in the MMA world knows who I am, it’s that simple. Everyone knows, and they’re going to continue to know because on Friday night I’m going to steal the show.”

Friday night is more than just another fight for Pimblett. It’s a chance to earn some money, a chance to bounce back into the win column and a chance to end 18 months of frustration on the sidelines. That’s a lot of motivation, and the former 145-pound champion says Friday night can’t come too soon.

“No one can stop me,” he said. “The only thing that can stop me is myself, and I’ve done that in the past and gone in there with injuries and different stuff. But I’m a different person now. I’ve grown up, I’m a different person, and I can’t wait to (expletive) fight.”