By: Aaron Morris
Image credit: PA / Getty
Paddy 'The Baddy' Pimblett has described his UFC 296 clash against Tony Ferguson as a 'lose lose' situation - anticipating criticism regardless of the result.
Side-lined from the octagon since December last year through an ankle injury, the scouse lightweight prospect is set to face off against one of his toughest challenges to date. And while he's undefeated in the octagon - having secured previous victories in the UFC over Jared Gordon, Jordan Leavitt, Kazula Vargas and Luigi Vendramini - 'El Cucuy' will be his toughest task to date.
While Ferguson is currently on a six-fight skid and is far from his prime, the California native proved that he still has power in his hands - arguably up on the scorecards in his last fight against Bobby Green before ultimately being choked out in the third and final round.
And Pimblett cited Ferguson's recent run of poor form as one of the main reasons as to why their UFC 296 clash is a bit of a bum situation for him. Speaking on his YouTube channel during a recent training vlog, Paddy said: "This fight is a lose lose for me, you know what I mean?
"Tony Ferguson, I don't care what anyone says - it's a lose lose. He's on a six-fight losing streak. If I win, well when I win, everyone's just going to be like 'oh, it's Tony Ferguson - he's finished, he's this, he's that'.
"I don't think it's going to happen, but if I lose everyone's like 'he's been beat by a finished Tony Ferguson'. So it's a lose lose for me but as I've told you all in the past I will never turn down a fight.
"Any fight, whatever's been offered to me by the UFC, I've signed on the dotted line - and that's what happened here. The name Tony Ferguson got offered to me and I signed no the dotted line. And now I'm fighting a legend - future Hall of Famer."
And despite how it may have came across to some fight fans, Pimblett was full of praise for his opponent who he looks up to. He added: "I’m fighting a legend of the sport who I grew up watching. It’s going to be an absolute pleasure to share the cage with such a legend."
Pimblett burst onto the scene as a fan favourite with the UFC in 2021, having captured the Featherweight strap with feeder organisation Cage Warriors. He secured a first round finish over Luigi Vendramini after being rocked early on, capturing the hearts of fans around the world with his 'zero fucks given' attitude and Liverpudlian charm.
However, he would soon turn into one of MMA's biggest villains after igniting a fiery feud with reputable combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani. Speaking on a podcast with UFC boss Dana White, Paddy said: "I hate all these journalists, especially the ones who earn off us.
"Ariel Helwani, in particular, loves earning money off fighters…He hates you, and he hates the UFC."
In the very same podcast, Pimblett would heat things further by dubbing Helwani a 'rodent' and a 'maggot' - cutting any ties with the MMA Hour presenter. Clapping back during a segment of his own show, Helwani would respond: "If there’s one guy, if there’s one guy you could say I’ve been talking about long before he was even on the UFC radar, it’s Paddy Pimblett!
"That’s what’s so crazy about this whole story! This guy was on the show back in the day when he was several fights away from a UFC fight. There aren’t a lot of those guys. Like, you could say, yeah, I jumped on the [Israel Adesanya] bandwagon late.
"I got him after his UFC debut. I jumped on the Conor [McGregor] bandwagon late, right before his UFC debut. You could say that about the vast majority of people that come on this show. Not him!
"I was talking about him well before he even made it to the UFC because I was interested in him, because he had this magnetic personality, because he was fun, he had a cool name, a cool look, a cool accent, a fun style, back when no one was talking about him, at least not on shows like this."
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