Facing the biggest challenge of his career in Michael Chandler at UFC 314 on Saturday, there were plenty of questions over whether Paddy Pimblett was ready for the elite of the lightweight division. Pimblett answered all of those and more with a scintillating performance that saw him dominate Chandler from the opening bell before scoring a TKO with a brutal flurry of strikes in the third round.
The opening two rounds were mostly a disaster for Chandler as Pimblett worked over his legs with kicks before coming upstairs with both kicks and punches. Pimblett’s attack forced Chandler to resort to wrestling to slow down the incoming offense but even that failed to work out, with Pimblett reversing position on the ground in the second round and threatening with an arm triangle choke before advancing to mount and dropping heavy punches and elbows to end the round.
By the end of Round 2, Pimblett held a 53-9 advantage in significant strikes landed.
CBS Sports will also have live coverage of the fight with round-by-round scoring and blow-by-blow updates to keep you up to date throughout the night.
Chandler’s reputation as a gutsy brawler who can walk through danger to find a way to land his trademark powerful strikes meant that the poor opening rounds likely wouldn’t force him into safety mode, especially in a five-round fight.
Pimblett then landed a big knee to Chandler’s face that split Chandler’s cheek open in the third. Pimblett followed that up with a takedown and eventually advanced to mount where he began to drop punches and elbows, forcing Chandler to do nothing but cover up under the onslaught and leaving the referee no choice but to jump in and halt the bout at the 3:07 mark of Round 3.
Such a dominant performance should end lingering talk that Pimblett is a product of promotional hype that has extended beyond his talent. Speaking after his win, Pimblett made it clear he wanted to continue proving critics wrong by facing elite fighters such as Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan. However, he seemed to have a bit more interest in former lightweight champion Oliveira.
“I want Dustin, Justin, Charles or the little posh boy Arman,” Pimblett said. “Any of them four. I want them all. I respect Dustin, Justin and Charles. I respect Charles and they say he’s the best submission artist in the UFC. Well, I dispute that.”