Sport Discussed

The atmosphere in the O2 arena in London was electric awaiting the bout between Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett and Kazula Bargas.

Pimblett, aged 27, was set to enter the octagon for only his second contest within the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) promotion and the hype around him had grown significantly since his debut in 2021. Fans had become increasingly interested to discover whether the young scouser would be able to back up the talk, that he has become so well known, for with his MMA skills within the cage itself.

The Englishmen entered the contest with a record of 16-3 and was a heavy favourite over the Mexican-born Vargas who may have had experience on his side at 36 years of age but was expected to struggle with the ground game of Pimblett which has been key in his previous successes.

Although the 27 year old had been able to secure a 1st round knockout victory in his debut for the UFC promotion he was criticised after the bout for the damage he sustained early on. Many high level mixed martial artists felt Pimblett had failed to protect himself effectively and previous middleweight champion Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping claimed ‘Paddy needs to fight with his hands up’. A lot of interest was placed on how the scouser would respond to this criticism and how his defensive capabilities had improved between fights.

Pimblett looked completely within his element during his walk to the octagon. He skipped alongside UFC security and his coaching staff whilst his music played and the sold out O2 arena chanted his name. Another question that needed answering going into this contest was how the 27 year old cope with the pressure of being in his own country and having a large amount of expectation on his shoulders.

As Michael Buffer announced the two fighters in their retrospective corners Pimblett appeared to be soaking in the atmosphere and there were no visible signs of the pressure getting to him. He seemed relaxed and composed opposite his opponent who was likely intimidated by the eyes on this fight and the hype behind his competitor.

As the bout began, Pimblett got off to a sluggish start as he was taken down after only 10 seconds. However, the 27 year old is incredibly well-versed in his Ju-Jitsu and fighting off of his back will not have phased him. By the time the first minute went past on the clock the Scouser had used the fence to work his way back up to his feet and stood locked with Vargas in an over-under clinch. Here, Vargas made the mistake of staying in a position in which Pimblett was likely a lot stronger and paid the price as ‘The Baddy’ used his high level of Judo to flip Vargas on his back and began to work from a top position.

In an attempt to get back to his feet the Mexican made the mistake of giving up his back to Pimblett who has shown great skill in submitting his opponents from rear naked choke positions. After breaking through the resistance of Vargas, the 27 year old was able to submit his older, more experienced opponent and raise the roof of the packed out O2 arena in London.

As his teammate Molly ‘The Meatball’ McCann joined him in the octagon post fight, Pimblett celebrated another first round victory avast the cage walls and joined in with the chants of his name that were ringing around the arena. Amongst the cheers, Bruce Buffer announced the Scouser’s first round submission victory as Michael Bisping entered the octagon to conduct a post-fight interview.

Pimblett instantly took to the microphone to criticise his own performance and the sloppiness of the first minute or two of the fight claiming that “it wasn’t as clean as I wanted”. Questions will be asked of the 27 year old’s takedown defence after he found himself instantly on his back very soon into the contest.

However, the Englishman soon began to do what he has become so well known for as he riled up the arena by bellowing “are you not entertained?” He carried on by saying “I am never in a boring fight lad, I just need a punch to the face to wake me up sometimes”. This attitude is something that has helped to build the hype around Pimblett and create a fan base behind him that would be fit of a top 5 contender in most cases.

Bisping then questioned the young Englishmen on his performance overall to which Pimblett responded “that was only a five or six out of ten lad.” Furthermore he stated “He caught me with a nice punch and I failed on the first takedown attempt.” In future fights against higher ranked opponents mistakes like Pimblett made at the O2 would likely be punished and if he is to move up into a ranking position within the UFC’s lightweight division he is going to have to clean up certain aspects of his game especially defensively.

As the echoes of supporting fans continued to be bounced around the arena’s walls ‘The Baddy’ spoke of his dream for his next event to be hosted at a football stadium in England. He exclaimed “lad, see this arena, the O2, too small, too small, get me a stadium, get us to Anfield and we will fill it.” The UFC has long spoke about the possibility of hosting a card at one of Britain’s major football stadiums and with the emergence of a vast amount of MMA talent in Britain such as rank 6 heavyweight Tom Aspinall and Darren ‘The Gorilla’ Till this could be the perfect time to make it happen.

UFC president Dana White seemed in brilliant spirits post UFC London and when questioned about the possibility of doing another show in the UK this year stated “yes we absolutely need to get back here before the end of the year. This event has been so successful and has reminded me of why we absolutely love bringing events over here (the UK)”. If this next show was to be a stadium show the time that seems to have been highlighted is November of this year and will likely bring the same names as UFC London such as Paddy Pimblett, Molly McCann and Tom Aspinall.

So, with the proposition of another UFC event hosted in Britain this year questions will start to be asked of who is next for the Liverpool born star. Earlier on in the night, another lightweight contender Ilia Topuria, who scored a knockout victory over his opponent himself, took to the microphone post fight to call out Pimblett. When ‘The Baddy’ was questioned over Topuria the Englishman stated ‘lions don’t align themselves with the likes of sheep’ effectively saying he was not interested in this particular bout at this point in time.

Although this seemed to be a natural matchup due to the bad blood between the two and the fact that both are coming off impressive wins, Pimblett’s disinterest in the matchup will probably mean that a different opponent would be in store for him later on in the year.

Then, in a way that only Pimblett could, ‘The Baddy’ redirected Bisping’s question about who he would like to fight next to take a shot at Instagram CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The scouser stated “but who do I want to fight next? Mark Zuckerberg! I’m sick of you lad. I’m sick of you shutting down my instagram pages when all I do is help charities and help people with mental health problems. You’re the biggest bully in the world.” Quotes like this are what has helped to make Pimblett the star that he has become and at such a young age the 27 year old’s potential in the MMA world is immense.

Despite already having a massive fan base behind him it is likely that Pimblett will have gained a new amount of respect within the MMA community as he chose to take time to dedicate his win to his late neighbour. He stated “I would like to dedicate this fight to Steve Green, one of my neighbours that died. One of his sons is here. I hope you’re happy Josh.” This is a touch of class that will add to the respect and admiration that Pimblett will have worldwide and add to his stardom that is already huge as it is.

Personalities like Pimblett are helping with the transition that MMA is going through from a sport that was often thought of as barbaric to a mainstream sport that has a ginormous following. The scouser is already being compared to fellow Brit Conor McGregor who also made his name in the UFC and has been pivotal in making the sport what it is today. In fact, a matchup between the two is something that many have called for due to the fact that they both compete in the lightweight division and the contest could well break pay-per-view records all over the world.

UFC London was a massive success and will hopefully contribute to building the audience interested in mixed martial arts in Britain. The atmosphere created in the O2 arena and the excitement around many of the fights on the card will also likely be remembered by UFC president Dana White and when the opportunity to go back to the UK for future events he will likely take it.