Paddy Pimblett takes umbrage with Michael Chandler’s fighting style.
Pimblett (22-4 MMA, 7-0 UFC) scored a dominant TKO of Chandler in his most recent outing at UFC 314 in April. Prior to the fight, Pimblett was asked about allegations of Chandler being a dirty fighter – ones which were mainly spread by his former opponents Dustin Poirier and Charles Oliveira.
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Pimblett but the blame on the referee for not intervening, but after facing Chandler (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC) himself, he changed his tune.
“I like Chandler. Chandler’s a proper nice fella. But in the cage, he’s a dirty b*stard,” Pimblett said on Aspinall’s YouTube channel. “Have you seen the amount of punches in the back of the head Chandler does? You know what I mean? Back of the head punches, f*cking fingers in people’s mouths.
“He tried to do that to (Dustin) Poirier and he bit him because he tried to do that. Eye pokes. He volleyed me in the balls. Right up the middle. It was the most blatant one ever. I went to kick him and he just went up the middle. F*ck off. Like, he said he tired to teep me. I was like, ‘Come on, lad.'”
The win over former title challenger Chandler earned Pimblett his own title opportunity. He meets Justin Gaethje (26-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) for the interim lightweight belt in Saturday’s UFC 324 main event (Paramount+) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Paddy Pimblett: Michael Chandler ‘a dirty bastard’ in UFC fights
