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Paddy Pimblett is returning to action at UFC London on Saturday against Kazula Vargas, and once again his opponent is accusing him of being more popular than skilled.
During a pre-fight media scrum, Vargas didn't sound impressed with what he saw in Pimblett's previous UFC outing.
“I actually think he’s a bit of a kid. He’s got good things, but he’s got a lot of bad things, as well. He’s probably overrated. I think he’s got a lot of holes in his fights, and I’ll try and take advantage of that, but like all UFC fighters, we’re here because we’re the best, and we’ll try and take advantage of those holes.”
Speaking with TMZ Sports, Paddy Pimblett brushed off the criticism from Vargas.
"I'm not arsed what he says, I don't mind. Luigi Vendramini said the same things, 'He's overrated, he's this, he's that,' and he got knocked out in the first round. And similar situation here, lad. He can say what he likes, fair I guess. But he's not even as good as Vendramini, he's going to get finished quicker. One round, he gets finished."
Watch the full interview from TMZ Sports with Paddy Pimblett below.
Pimblett is 1-0 in the octagon after landing an impressive first-round KO over veteran Vendramini in September 2021. Rodrigo 'Kazula' Vargas is 1-2 in the UFC with his last fight being a decision win over Zhu Rong in April of 2021
Paddy Pimblett vs. Ilia Topuria is the fight everyone keeps talking about
Most of the promotional heat leading up to Paddy Pimblett's fight on Saturday night isn't coming from Vargas. Instead, it's being stolen by another fighter on the UFC London card, Ilia Topuria, who attacked Pimblett at the fighter hotel earlier in the week. Topuria is set to fight Jai Herbert on the prelim portion of the card, and wants a fight with Paddy Pimblett next.
But Pimblett just isn't interested. When asked by TMZ Sports about the match-up, he said:
"He's beneath me, lad. He's beneath me. I don't need it. Like I said, I don't even know his name, lad. He's 'Mr. Hand Sanitizer' to me. That's alls he is. I don't know his name, lad. Simple as. He's going to get knocked out on Saturday by my man Jai [Herbert], and then he'll crawl back to the featherweight division."
Topuria is 3-0 in the UFC and is making his lightweight debut at UFC London. Jai Herbert, on the other hand, is 1-2 but most recently scored a KO win over Khama Worthy in October 2021.
