Arman Tsarukyan did not hold back his thoughts about Paddy Pimblett‘s skills after UFC 324.
Pimblett (23-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC) had the opportunity to become the interim UFC lightweight champion, but came up short against Justin Gaethje in a unanimous decision loss. Tsarukyan, who was the No. 1 contender cut out of the interim picture due to his own transgressions, watched the fight cageside at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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“I was enjoying every moment when Gaethje clipped him,” Tsarukyan said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “… He’s a bitch. He doesn’t deserve to be there, you know? That’s why I was like, I was happy because now UFC can see why they put the trash can there. And he never deserved to be there.”
Gaethje (27-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) became interim champion for the second time by winning the scorecards 48-47, 49-46, and 49-46. Tsarukyan has some respect for him, but Pimblett – well, he struggles to find any nice words to say about his skills as a fighter.
“Gaethje, he’s good, but he got tired from the second round,” Tsaruykan said. “He dropped him, and he couldn’t stop him because he’s tired from the first round – and Paddy Pimblett, he has zero MMA skills. He has a chin, and that’s it dot com.
“… He has zero technique, to be honest. Oh, my God. I feel like everybody can beat him. The good fighters who are on the prime from top 15, everybody can beat unless, like, it’s Michael Chandler, because Michael Chandler, UFC made him to be on the top 15 as well, like him. … If you go through the list, (Rafael) Fiziev, Benoit (Saint Denis), me, (Charles) Oliveira, (Max) Holloway, everybody can beat him. Dan Hooker beats him 100 percent.”
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Tsarukyan saw the fight as a one-sided beatdown, and thinks Pimblett should take five or six years off to let his brain heal. He even went further to say that the UFC should just go ahead and remove him from the roster now.
“I would like UFC cut him out,” Tsarukyan said. “Bullsh*t guy. Worst UFC fighter. … He’s so bad. He’s not – I’m saying like real, right? (Ilia) Topuria, I’m not saying he’s a bad fighter, right? He’s a good fighter. Islam (Makhachev), good fighter. Oliveira, good fighter. Holloway, good fighter. (Dustin) Poirier, good fighter. But like this trash can, he’s zero fighter. Not because I hate him, because it’s real like that. If you give me like, give me Paddy, I would play. I would like, I think, during the fight, I’m going to decide what I should do, knock him out, or choke him out, like with Hooker, you know?”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Arman Tsarukyan: ‘Trash can’ Paddy Pimblett never deserved title fight
