Din Thomas thinks Paddy Pimblett needs some work if he wants to become UFC champion.
Pimblett (23-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC) hung tough, but was ultimately battered in a five-round decision loss to Justin Gaethje (27-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) for the interim title at UFC 324.
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While many questioned Pimblett’s game plan against Gaethje, Thomas didn’t see anything different.
“I was impressed with Paddy’s durability and his conditioning,” Thomas told MMA Junkie. “I don’t know why people were so shocked at Paddy’s game plan. How else did he ever fight before? When you think about it, how else did he ever fight before? When he fought Michael Chandler, he took him down in the third round after he was already hurt. But the only other times they were ever on the ground in that fight against Michael Chandler was when Chandler took him down â and he swept him and reversed positions.
“So it’s not like Paddy Pimblett has always fought with this crazy style where he’s stunting on you on his feet, where he’s outboxing guys on the feet and then he’s taking them down. Paddy Pimblett fights the way Paddy Pimblett fights. He’s a survivalist. He survives the onslaughts. He gets taken down. He’s great off of his back. He’s never been the best boxer. He hits pretty hard. He runs forward pretty recklessly. But I wasn’t surprised with the way he fought Gaethje or was disappointed with his skill set. That’s the skill set that I knew he had. I was more so surprised with his chin and his durability and how determined he was to win that fight despite being a bit out skilled.”
Thomas still sees Pimblett as a big star, but isn’t sure about his championship potential.
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“I don’t see him beating any of them guys,” Thomas said. “I didn’t see him beating any of them guys before this fight, I don’t see him beating any of them guys after the fight, even though I was impressed by his determination to win and his durability. I was impressed with that. Again, his ceiling is his ceiling and he’s still going to be a fun guy. He’s still going to be a fun guy to watch fight.
“But you match him up and give him a lot of fun fights, he’s going to carry Liverpool on his back, man. He’s going to carry the U.K. on his back. And he’s still going to be a lot of fun. There’s a lot of fun matchups for him. Will he be UFC champion? Highly doubt that â unless I see something different. But it’s a discipline issue. He’s got to go back to the drawing board and figure those things out.”
To hear more from Thomas, check out his complete appearance on “The Bohnfire” podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Din Thomas doesn’t like Paddy Pimblett’s chances of becoming UFC champ
