Paddy Pimblett is gearing up for one of the biggest fights of his career a showdown with veteran Michael Chandler at UFC 314. But before they step into the Octagon, “The Baddy” wants to make sure the fight stays clean. And that starts with a word of warning to the referee.
Chandler, a former Bellator champ and long-time UFC contender, has faced accusations of bending the rules throughout his career. While he’s consistently denied cheating allegations, Pimblett isn’t buying it.
“He’s the nicest man in the world outside the cage, and then when he gets in there, he’s a dirty bastard, isn’t he?” Pimblett said during UFC 314 media day. “I always say, if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying. I understand what he’s trying to do. He wants to win. That’s the main thing in this game.”
Still, Pimblett made it clear that if Chandler tries anything illegal during their bout, he’ll be ready and vocal about it.
“Yeah, I probably will mention it to the ref in the back. If he’s going to grab my glove, I’m going to say something. If he tries to poke me in the eye, and stuff like that I’ll speak up.”
The official referee assignment for UFC 314 has yet to be announced. But Pimblett is hoping to avoid a repeat of Chandler’s bout with Charles Oliveira, where he believes things got out of hand.
“That one against Charles, when he punched him in the back of the head about nine times or something—I hope that’s not my referee,” Pimblett said, referencing referee Mike Beltran. “Put it that way. I hope we’ve got a good ref like Marc Goddard or Jason Herzog. I don’t want to have a ref that’s just going to let me get rabbit-punched in the back of my head consistently.”
Pimblett didn’t stop there. He also pointed to Chandler’s fight with Justin Gaethje, claiming the veteran fighter landed an illegal eye poke before throwing a hard punch while the ref attempted to intervene.
“The one he did against Gaethje was bad as well. He poked him in the eye, and the ref went to stop it, and he just punched him in the face as hard as he could.”
While Chandler continues to deny that he cheats during fights, Pimblett is convinced otherwise.
“As I say, Chandler’s a real nice fella outside the Octagon,” Pimblett said. “I bumped into him yesterday and had a chat with him. But in there, he’s a very, very dirty man.”
Despite the accusations, Pimblett is focused on the task at hand. A win over Chandler would be a major step toward his dream of becoming UFC lightweight champion.
“The goalposts always get moved with me,” Pimblett said. “Everyone’s saying now before the fight, ‘Chandler’s going to knock him out, Paddy’s not good.’ Then once I beat him, it’ll be, ‘He’s 2-4 in the UFC, he’s 38, he’s washed.’ I’m used to it. I just go out there and prove how good I am by winning.”
