Israel Adesanya knows a thing or two about being a big star early on in your UFC career. Paddy Pimblett appears to be on a similar path as he's set to fight at UFC London for his second fight in the promotion.
Israel Adesanya isn't so sure about the trash-talk from Paddy Pimblett though. The level of competition he has fought in the UFC is not quite at the right level.
“He should do that,” the UFC champion said on his YouTube channel (h/t MMAFighting). “I dare him to do a fucking whole entrance on the biggest fight of his life. I’m not talking this fight — this ain’t the biggest fight of his life. He’s fighting a motherfucker that’s 1-2 in the UFC. He’s getting fed a bum. I dare him to try something like that, and then fight, and do what I did.”
The UFC middleweight champion did have some positive things to say about Paddy Pimblett. That being said, he's not quite sure the hype and confidence are deserved right now.
“He jumped in the UFC, talked that shit, and he walked that shit, too. I like what he’s doing. I like the haircut, and I like how he’s owning everything and just telling it like it is. He’s speaking his truth. They’re building him up. This is the thing: when I got to the UFC, when I jumped in, I was ready to fight the most dangerous people of the division, and they threw me right in there against a grappler who was going to grapple me — at least, that’s what he tried to do. Second fight, I’m fighting block head Marvin Vettori, third fight I fight a top-ranked guy, top-10, fucking, third fight.
Look, you can be a hype train but there’s levels. I knew I could jump in the deep end and swim with the sharks right away. I didn’t have the opportunity, like some of the these guys — even Jon Jones early on was fighting, not scrubs, but they push you, and once they realize who you are, ‘Oh, OK, let’s push him more.’ Anyway, that’s no shade by the way, that’s just me stating it as it is for myself. I didn’t get to fight a guy who was 1-2.”
Follow Us
Subscribe