Renato Moicano believes Paddy Pimblett "exposed" Michael Chandler, agrees with potential title shot for 'The Baddy'

UFC 314 played host to Paddy Pimblett's coming of age as a true top lightweight. His beatdown of Michael Chandler is one that fellow lightweight Renato Moicano believes warrants a title shot for the Scouser. Furthermore, Moicano opined that Pimblett exposed Chandler's limitations as a fighter.

While speaking to Ariel Helwani, Moicano was asked for his thoughts on 'The Baddy' potentially facing the winner of the lightweight title fight between Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira at UFC 317. To that, 'Money Moicano' said:

"100%. Yes. I believe that. And fair enough, he did well on his last fight."

While the Brazilian praised Pimblett's performance against Chandler, he also criticized Chandler, and it's to seeing why. After some early success with his takedowns, 'Iron' gassed out badly in Round 1 and was subsequently battered en route to a TKO loss in Round 3. Moicano added:

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"To be completely honest with you, I don't wanna sound like a hater again, but I think [Paddy Pimblett] just exposed Chandler. I think Chandler got exposed. Bad. I think he's getting too old. I don't think he belongs to the top 15 anymore."

Check out Renato Moicano's thoughts on Paddy Pimblett below (21:01):

It's worth questioning whether Chandler ever has been a legitimate top 15 fighter in the UFC. His record in the promotion has been abysmal. He is 2-5, and his only wins have asterisks next to them. Dan Hooker, who 'Iron' knocked out at UFC 257, was coming off a brutal, five-round beating from Dustin Poirier at UFC Vegas 4.

Chandler's only other win came at UFC 274, when he faced Tony Ferguson, who was on a three-fight losing streak and on his way to the longest losing streak in UFC history. Despite Ferguson being past his prime, he still picked Chandler apart for most of the fight before getting knocked out suddenly.

Paddy Pimblett has built-in storylines for Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira

Paddy Pimblett, if the UFC sees fit to, could face either Ilia Topuria or Charles Oliveira, depending on who becomes the new lightweight champion at UFC 317. Both men have a history with 'The Baddy.' Pimblett and Topuria have a bitter feud after the Brit's remarks about the Russo-Georgian war led to a hotel melee between the pair.

Check out the Paddy Pimblett vs. Ilia Topuria hotel confrontation below:

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Meanwhile, Pimblett called Oliveira out at UFC 314, expressing his eagerness to test his grappling and submission skills against 'Do Bronxs.'

About the author

Ricardo has been an MMA writer at Sportskeeda for the past 2 years, having previously worked for The Sportster. In his time at Sportskeeda, the kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner has penned over 2000 articles, including five exclusive pieces, and raked in more than 4 million views. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics.

Ricardo’s earliest memory of becoming an MMA fan dates back to 2009 when Lyoto Machida defeated Rashad Evans in the headlining bout of UFC 98. His Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters includes Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, Fedor Emelianenko, Anderson Silva, and Alexander Volkanovski.

Ricardo aspires to be at the forefront of covering MMA soon by becoming a part of discussion panels that conduct pre-fight predictions, post-fight breakdowns, and fantasy fight breakdowns. His articles are supported by extensive research and double checking of information via multiple sources.

Beyond work, Ricardo likes to write and draw.

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Edited by Subham