Paddy Pimblett could live up to his nickname through a BMF title fight with Max Holloway.
That’s according to talkSPORT MMA pundits Adam Catterall and Brendan Loughnane, who believe ‘The Baddy’ vs Holloway would be one for the ages.
Pimblett, 30, is ranked No. 7 in the lightweight division having demolished Michael Chandler at UFC 314 this month to edge his name closer to a title shot.
Islam Makhachev is the current champion at 155 pounds, while Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan are all top contenders.
Ilia Topuria, who vacated his featherweight title in February, has now also thrown his name into the mix, moving up 10 lbs in weight to push for a fight with Makhachev.
This has left UFC CEO Dana White with plenty of choice when it comes to the future of his lightweight division.
After naming a super fight between Makhachev and Topuria for the title, Gaethje vs Poirier, and Oliveira vs Tsarukyan, Catterall explained why Pimblett against Holloway makes perfect sense.
“The current holder of the BMF [title] is Max Holloway,” he said. “[So] let’s see if The Baddy really is the bad guy.
“Paddy vs Max, let’s go.”
Holloway knocked out Gaethje at UFC 300 in April last year to win the status as the promotion’s ‘Badddest M*****F*****’, but has since been flattened himself by Topuria, who subsequently retained his old belt after doing the same to Alexander Volkanovski.
Nonetheless, former UFC champion Holloway is still widely viewed as one of the deadliest fighters in White’s promotion, having been active at the summit for more ten years.
Loughnane was taken aback by Catterall’s suggestion, but he couldn’t disagree.
“I never even seen that one coming,” the 2022 PFL featherweight champion said.
“But wow, what a fight. And like you say, every name you’ve just reeled off there…there’s some great fights.
Catterall later responded: “I don’t think there’s any wrong answers.
“So even if you were to do Charles and Ilia with Arman getting the [title] shot, and Dustin and Paddy being put together, whatever…all of them work.
“Every single one of them scenarios works so much. They’re in a really good spot, the UFC, with 155 [lbs].
“We all know who the king is. That’s Islam. And that’s probably the biggest debate as to who he fights next, which way it’s going to go there.
UFC lightweight rankings
Champion: Islam Makhachev
- Arman Tsarukyan
- Charles Oliveira
- Justin Gaethje
- Max Holloway
- Dustin Poirier
- Dan Hooker
- Mateusz Gamrot
- Paddy Pimblett
- Beneil Dariush
- Renato Moicano
- Rafael Fiziev
- Michael Chandler
- Benoit Saint-Denis
- Grant Dawson
- Joel Alvarez
“But the rest of it, you could just chuck them all up in the air, wherever they land, put them together. There’ll be some fantastic fights.”
Both men then failed to hold back their excitement when talking about what the scale of a Pimblett vs Holloway fight would look like.
“I know the UFC loves coming to England,” Loughnane said. “You bring Paddy and Max to England, don’t you?
“Can you imagine the scenes at the Echo [Arena]? Could you imagine it? I don’t even think the Echo is big enough for that fight.”
Catterall then asserted that the prospective fight has the aura to take place on an even bigger stage.
“It could do Anfield (the home of Premier League side Liverpool FC). That’s the star power right now of Paddy,” he said.
“He could do a football stadium in the UK. There’s no doubt in my mind about it.
“[But] I think they’ll try and keep him in America, because if he’s bouncing Miami all over the place, he could easily do that in New York or Vegas.
Loughane chimed in: “It’s a front-runner now with him and Ilia Topuria [as to] who are the two main stars of the UFC right now.”
Topuria and Pimblett share a mutual hatred that dates back to a brief scrap they were involved in at a London hotel before a UFC Fight Night event in March 2022.
A video showed Topuria and his team approaching Pimblett in the fighter’s area after the scouser has said something the Spaniard believed to be offensive.
This prompted Pimblett to throw bottle of hand sanitiser and the former respond with an attempted punch.
Pimblett was heard saying, ‘Do you think I’m scared of you?’ and Topuria called the Liverpool man a ‘b****’ numerous times.
The pair later got involved in a heated verbal exchange in a press conference for UFC 282 where both fighters featured on the same card again.
“Imagine if we can get to a situation with the history that these two have got together, not liking each other.
“Imagine if we could get to a scenario where Ilia Topuria fights Paddy The Baddy Pimblett for the title.
Loughnane interjected: “And even the fact that he’s got Conor McGregor‘s shout on his name now.
“Don’t forget it was supposed to be Conor versus Michael Chandler.
“Now he’s even threw his name in the mix of a Paddy The Baddy versus Conor McGregor. We’re just talking incredible teams worldwide.”
Pimblett is eyeing up the UFC’s biggest stars after his victory over Chandler.
But no matter who stands across the Octagon, ‘The Baddy’ certainly knows how to put on a show.
