Paddy
Pimblett would like to prove that Charles
Oliveira’s grappling isn’t levels above his own.
Oliveira challenged Max
Holloway for the BMF belt in the main event at
UFC 326 on Saturday. Oliveira controlled Holloway on the ground
for over 20 minutes to earn a dominant unanimous decision victory.
Reacting to the fight, Pimblett says he would love the opportunity
to fight Oliveira. While fans might consider Oliveira’s grappling
to be on a different level than Pimblett’s, “The Baddy” knows
that’s not the case. Pimblett believes he will end up having a
striking battle with Oliveira if they fight.
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The Same Level?
“I’d love to fight Charles, though,” Pimblett said on YouTube. “Everyone talks about his grappling
and thinks it’s levels above mine, but I know it isn’t. If I fought
Charles, I’d probably end up having a war on the feet.”
While Oliveira (37-11) threatened submissions on the ground,
Holloway did an excellent job of defending against a feared
submission artist like “do Bronx.” However, Oliveira faced some
backlash for not landing enough damage on “Blessed” despite
controlling him for most of the fight. Despite Oliveira’s dominant
win, some fans didn’t think the performance did justice to the BMF
title.
Meanwhile, Pimblett (23-4) is coming off a unanimous decision loss
in an interim lightweight title fight against Justin
Gaethje, who was choked out by Oliveira in 2022.