Paddy Pimblett is ‘worthy’ of an immediate title shot following his dominant UFC 314 performance.
That’s according to Islam Makhachev’s coach, Javier Mendez, who believes ‘The Baddy’ is ready for anyone after stopping Michael Chandler in Miami.
Makhachev has been the UFC lightweight champion for almost three years and last defended his 155-pound strap in January against Renato Moicano.
Following UFC 314, Liverpool’s Pimblett shot up four places in the UFC’s lightweight rankings and now sits in eighth spot.
This means that he is now arguably just one fight away from a fight for lightweight gold, depending on who those above him like Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier are matched up against.
Speaking on the Javier & Mo Show, Makhachev’s coach, Mendez, believes 30-year-old Pimblett is more than ready for a title shot.
“Paddy’s ready to face anybody,” the Mexican-American said. “I mean what he’s done already, his credentials, his winning record in the UFC and his hype and what he can do, how he can motivate people.
“If they give him the next title shot, he deserves it because they gave it to him. So whoever they give it to him, they give.
“Let’s see who they give him to, who gets into the arena with him next. I don’t know, but is he worthy? Yes.”
Pimblett was unsurprisingly full of confidence after his UFC 314 win and didn’t shy away from calling out those above him.
The Merseyside-born star has been smart with picking his fights during his undefeated UFC career so far, naturally working his way up the rankings since his September 2021 debut.
“[I want] anyone in the top four, top five. I want that world title,” he told Joe Rogan in his post-fight interview.
“Charles is the biggest legend out of them all, and he gets called the best submitting artist the UFC’s ever seen. Well, I dispute that, I’m here.”
Oliveira, Gaethje and Poirier are all in the top five-ranked UFC lightweights.
All three of those names have a victory over Chandler, who has now lost three consecutive UFC fights and plummeted five spots to No.12 in the rankings following his defeat.
Arman Tsarukyan is the current No. 1 contender at 155lbs and exchanged verbal blows with Pimblett ahead of UFC 314, meaning the Armenian could also be a suitable future opponent.
“He’s very interesting and he’s got all England behind him and a lot of America to be behind him,” Mendez concluded, speaking on Pimblett.
“Most of America will be behind him. He has a lot of fans and I’m a fan. I wasn’t a big fan at the beginning.
“I was not. When he fought Jared Gordon, I was like, ugh, but I’ve become a huge fan.”
Pimblett has consistently defied the odds during his time in Dana White‘s promotion.
Several MMA fans were on his back after a tight unanimous decision win over Gordon in December 2022, before ‘The Baddy’ went on to defeat Tony Ferguson, King Green and Chandler.
Ilia Topuria is another name Pimblett could find himself matched up against before he enters the title picture.
Topuria vacated the UFC featherweight title in February after knocking out Alexander Volkanovski to win the belt and defending it against Max Holloway.
The Spaniard has asserted that he only wants his next fight to be for the title against Makhachev, but the latter’s coach and UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov has suggested Topuria must fight a top contender first to prove his worth.
Former UFC champion Henry Cejudo believes Pimblett’s shared hatred for Topuria sets up a perfect next fight for the pair.
“These guys have beef from back in the day,” he said, reacting to UFC 314. “The storyline is there, they’re both stars in the UFC.”
