Paddy Pimblett is looking forward to his return to the cage, he’s looking forward to earning another UFC title shot, and he’s looking forward to rematching Justin Gaethje.
Gaethje took a hotly contested back-and-forth war with Pimblett back at UFC 324, and while few contest the results it’s hard to ignore the multiple bad eye pokes “The Highlight” landed on “The Baddy” during their fight. Pimblett certainly hasn’t forgotten about them, and he’s hoping a chance to face Gaethje again arises in the future.
“I’m gonna be fighting in like twelve weeks or something like that,” Pimblett said, confirming previous reports that he’ll be at UFC 329 in July. “I’m gonna be back and someone’s getting muftied. I’m coming back for revenge after I lost my last fight. It’s one of them. Everyone loses and that’s how you learn. It’s how you get better. I probably learned more from losing that fight than winning seven other UFC fights, but I’ll be back better and stronger. And everyone’s gonna see.”
“I’ve always said it’s in me destiny that I’m gonna be the world champion, and I will. At some point in your career you need a loss to realize stuff, and I think that was that point in my career. And hopefully I get the rematch with Gaethje, I got nothing but respect for him but he’s a dirty bastard poking me in the eyes. So I really hope we get that rematch some day.”
Pimblett may not get that opportunity as Gaethje has said he’d retire if he loses to Ilia Topuria at the UFC White House event on June 13th. But there’s always a chance (albeit a small one according to bookies) that Justin could knock out Ilia.
What there’s no chance of, according to Pimblett, is a much hyped boxing showdown between UFC CEO Dana White and Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn.
“It’s not gonna happen,” Pimblett said when asked to predict an outcome. “Dana’s not gonna box, you know what I mean? I think it’s a bit of a mad situation. Eddie’s got the reach on him, but Dana’s my boss, lads. I’m backing Dana. Dana’s gonna spark him out. But at the same time, it’s not gonna gonna happen. We all agree it’s not never gonna happen.”
“Thing is if they fought each other, they’d get paid well more than what the fighters get paid,” he added with a laugh. “30 mil each? No boxer is getting that under Eddie. No UFC fighter is getting that under Dana. That’s the funniest thing about it. And they both got nothing on any fighter that they’ve got. But, you know, that’s just the way the world works.”