UFC fans are pretty sure Paddy Pimblett accidentally revealed who he’s fighting next.
UFC fans think Paddy “the Baddy” Pimblett might have accidentally revealed who he’ll fight next as he aims to bounce back after his first loss in the UFC against Justin Gaethje in January.
Before that loss, Pimblett had a flawless UFC record of seven wins in seven fights. He lost by unanimous decision to Gaethje in the fight for the interim UFC lightweight title at UFC 324 earlier this year.
Gaethje is set to headline UFC Freedom 250, fighting Ilia Topuria for the undisputed lightweight title on June 15. Pimblett hinted he’ll be back in the Octagon during International Fight Week on July 11.
Recently, Pimblett posted some photos of himself training with UFC welterweights Ko Seok Hyeon and Dong Hyun Kim at Next Generation Gym. He captioned it: “Great to have @stungunkim and @ko.seokhyeon in the gym today, some perfect rounds for me with some southpaws 👀. They’ll be back with us sooner rather than later @nextgenmmalpool. Can’t wait to get over to Korea with them too – keep an eye out on mine and the Stun Gun’s YouTube channels for the videos we’re going to drop.”
Fans noticed him training with southpaws and started guessing who his next opponent might be. Dan Hooker and Renato Moicano have been linked to Pimblett, but both are orthodox fighters, so the southpaw clues seem to rule them out.
Many fans think France’s Benoît Saint-Denis could be next. One fan said, “Obviously, BSD lol. There’s no other southpaw that he’d logically be fighting. And Benoît has teased he’s fighting an Englishman next.” Another added, “I’ve been saying Pimblett vs Benoît Saint-Denis since his loss to Gaethje. I think Pimblett will win – I really like this matchup.” A third said, “BSD vs Paddy is already official – what more do you want?”
Saint-Denis has a UFC record of nine wins and three losses. He recently beat Dan Hooker by TKO at UFC 325 in February. The 30-year-old is on a four-fight winning streak, having also defeated Beneil Dariush, Mauricio Ruffy, and Kyle Prepolec in the past year.
Pimblett has said before that he’s open to fighting Saint-Denis. In February, he said, “It annoyed me that Saint-Denis moved ahead of me after beating Dan Hooker. Why did he jump over me for that? I will fight anyone – whatever name they put on a contract, I’ll sign and fight. But Saint-Denis sounds like a good fight. Europe’s two best lightweights going head-to-head.”