UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier would campaign for a Paddy Pimblett title shot if he can beat a marquee name in the lightweight division.
Pimblett (22-4 MMA, 7-0 UFC) has been angling for a fight against champion Ilia Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC), who also wants the fight. But after Arman Tsarukyan ran through Dan Hooker in the UFC Fight Night 265 headliner in Qatar, Cormier believes the UFC needs to book him against Topuria.
Cormier wants to see Pimblett really cement himself by beating the other contender vying for a title shot, former interim champion Justin Gaethje (26-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC).
“I know for a fact that they wanted to do Paddy vs. Justin,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “A win over Justin after what he’s done already, now I would have bought Paddy Pimblett fighting for the belt right now. Because I still believe that Paddy needs to continue to grow in the octagon a little bit. He’s riding the ship, and now he’s fought so well that we go, ‘Man, the way he beat Chandler, we’ve never seen that before.’ But Ilia’s a different beast. He’s a savage.”
Pimblett entered the upper echelon of the lightweight division by dominating former title challenger Michael Chandler at UFC 314. Despite not fighting since then, he has jumped to No. 5 in the UFC lightweight rankings. Gaethje has won three of his past four fights, most recently defeating short-notice replacement Rafael Fiziev at UFC 313.
