Paddy Pimblett has said he would fight Conor McGregor tomorrow if he got the opportunity.
Pimblett also revealed how he would convince Dana White to bring the UFC to Anfield, the home of his beloved Liverpool.
Pimblett is a die-hard Liverpool fangetty
The 29-year-old made his UFC debut in 2021 and quickly became one of the promotion’s biggest stars due to his larger than life character and unique personality.
His last outing came at UFC 304 Manchester in July when he submitted King Green via a triangle choke in the first round.
This marked Pimblett’s sixth consecutive victory in Dana White’s promotion and entered him into the UFC’s top 15 lightweight rankings.
The Liverpool man also has notable career victories over Jared Gordon and MMA icon Tony Ferguson, winning both by unanimous decision having finished the rest of his UFC fights.
“If they got on me now and said do you want to fight Conor McGregor in December. Of course I’d say yes, I’m not f****** stupid,” Pimblett said, speaking to OLBG.
“I just said to my manager, ‘Listen, if you want me to fight in [Las] Vegas before the end of the year – that card has been announced now – I need a ten week notice,’ I needed to know.”
UFC 310 takes place in the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas on December 8 and is headlined by Belal Muhammad defending his welterweight belt for the first time against Shavkat Rakhmonov.
Muhammad picked up the belt in Manchester on the same card as Pimblett’s last victory by upsetting Birmingham’s Leon Edwards after five rounds.
“It got mentioned to me like eight years ago or something when I won the Cage Warriors featherweight belt [also won by McGregor],” Pimblett added.
“Anyone that would say no to fighting McGregor is just an idiot because you’re never getting a payday like it. I’d fight McGregor tomorrow, obviously for the city it would be unbelievable.
Pimblett has big wins against the likes of Tony FergusonGetty
Pimblett got the chance to chat with McGregor during his visitDolly Clew/Cage Warriors
“Me, the biggest star in Liverpool MMA fighting the biggest star in the world when it comes to MMA. I’d take that fight in a heartbeat, I’d love that fight…I back myself against anyone.”
There have been lots of rumours circulating in the MMA community about Pimblett’s future UFC fights with ‘The Baddy’ now only a few bouts away from a title shot.
One name that has regularly popped up is that of Brazil’s Renato Moicano, who is the No.11 ranked lightweight – three places above Pimblett.
Moicano is on a four-fight UFC win streak and his last octagon appearance ended in a doctor’s stoppage victory after Frenchman Benoit Saint Denis suffered several blows to the head.
After the bout Moicano, 35, called out Liverpool’s Pimblett and the latter responded on Instagram with the caption: “Let’s do this”.
But no matter who ends up being Pimblett’s next opponent, the dad of two twin daughters would do anything to decide where the fight took place.
“No matter who I was fighting, that would probably mean more than actually winning the belts,” Pimblett said, when asked about fighting at Anfield.
Moicano is a contender to be Pimblett’s next opponentGetty
White has previously said he is not a fan of hosting UFC events outdoorsGetty
“I hope I can convince him [Dana White] to go outdoors at Anfield. He needs to come to a footy match to see what the atmosphere is like because I think he thinks it takes away from the atmosphere [going outdoors].
“But at Anfield it doesn’t, mate, when you’ve got 60,000 scousers in there, it won’t.
“Walking out on Anfield and touching the badge. That would be heavy. But, yeah [losing in front of home fans] that is always playing in your mind, you can’t think about that.
“You’ve always got to have it in the back of your mind, it certainly can happen like that.”
Although Pimblett, like most of the UFC roster, would snap one’s hand off for a bout with former two-division UFC champion McGregor, Moicano is a far more realistic opponent.
Pimblett also said that should he fight the Brazilian and knock him out, he would only be ‘one or two fights’ away from a title shot.
Islam Makhachev is the current UFC lightweight champion and is likely to defend his belt against No.1 ranked Arrman Tsarukyan next.
Charles Oliveira is the No.2 ranked lightweight and he squares off against Michael Chandler – No.7 – at UFC 309 next month.
Max Holloway, the No.5 ranked lightweight, stepped down a division to challenge Ilia Topuria for his UFC featherweight title.
That bout takes place this Saturday as the co-main event of UFC Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
