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Paddy Pimblett is clearly one of the UFC's top rising stars. After his performance at UFC London, Paddy 'The Baddy' has proven that he's a major force promotion-wise. Competition-wise, there are still some questions to be answered by the 27-year-old.
If he has his way, we might not get those answers for another year or two, because he's not interested in a fast track to the top of the lightweight division.
In a new episode of Food Truck Diaries, Pimblett said:
"I'm taking every step at a time, I'm not getting ahead of myself. You see some fighters come in and after a few fights or one fight, 'Ah, I want to fight the champ!' ... But I'm not one of them, I'm not gonna be like 'I wanna fight him now.' I'm taking it every step at a time, I don't need to rush and fight ranked contenders, that's not something I need to do. I'll take it one step at a time. I'll take each step one fight at a time and eventually I will take the belt and eventually I will be called the best in the world."
Paddy Pimblett explained the economics of the situation, saying:
"I make more money outside the octagon and it makes me laugh when people are commenting on my stuff and saying 'He's not active enough, he doesn't fight enough, he should be fighting four times a year. Why? Why should I fight four times a year? When I'm making more outside the cage than I am in it? I've had people tweeting me in the past few weeks saying 'We want to see him versus Makhachev, we want to see him versus Ferguson, we want to see him versus Gaethje.' I'm like what? I'll be fighting them in about three years, chill out!"
Watch the full episode of Food Truck Diaries with Paddy Pimblett below:
Dana White's matchmaking board had Paddy Pimblett vs. Ottman Azaitar for the next UFC London card
A video with Dana White from The Pivot Podcast may have revealed a lot more about the UFC's upcoming plans than originally intended.
Leading up to the interview, the camera pans past several matchmaker boards with proposed line-ups for upcoming cards. One of the events was the UFC's return to London on July 23, and listed on that card was a potential fight between Paddy Pimblett and Ottman Azaitar.
Azaitar may be an unranked lightweight, but he's still probably a tougher opponent than Paddy Pimblett and his management are interested in accepting. The German fighter is 13-0 and on a five-fight knockout streak.
He hasn't fought since September 2020 though, due to a bizarre incident at UFC 257 where he broke COVID-19 protocols on Fight Island and was released by the promotion. The UFC brought him back a month later, but hasn't booked him for a fight yet. That may soon change if White's matchmaking board is accurate.
