5 fighters who could be next in line to face Paddy Pimblett

#2. Paddy Pimblett vs. Diego Ferreira

A win over Diego Ferreira would propel Paddy Pimblett into the top fifteen in the UFC lightweight division

While he’s still a relatively young prospect, Paddy Pimblett is charismatic enough that the UFC may well want to give him a quick push up the ladder in the lightweight division. That would mean an attempt to break him into the top 15. While most of the fighters there are currently booked in fights, one man who isn’t is Brazilian grappling ace Diego Ferreira.

Ferreira broke into the UFC’s lightweight rankings in 2020 thanks to an impressive six-fight winning streak, peaking with a submission of former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis at UFC 246.

However, since then the Brazilian has dropped his most recent two fights, falling to Beneil Dariush and most recently Gregor Gillespie, who finished him with strikes in the second round. Despite those two losses, Ferreira would undoubtedly be the most dangerous opponent that Paddy Pimblett has ever faced.

Not only does he carry knockout power in his hands, he actually holds a KO win over potential Pimblett opponent Jared Gordon, but his grappling is truly venomous. He’s an adept finisher with submissions and holds a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.

However, Ferreira is undoubtedly better on offense than he is on defense. He fights openly enough that Paddy Pimblett would definitely stand a chance of catching him with something nasty. More to the point, this would be a low-risk, high-reward fight for ‘The Baddy’. If he were to lose to Ferreira, he wouldn’t lose much of his shine. After all, there’s no shame in falling to defeat at the hands of a proven world-class fighter.

This would be a wickedly tough match for Paddy Pimblett, but one that would be interesting and worthwhile, too.

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#1. Paddy Pimblett vs. Clay Guida

Could Paddy Pimblett make a name for himself by beating Clay Guida?

The UFC loves nothing better than building up young prospects like Paddy Pimblett by having them defeat aging, past-their-prime veterans. And in the lightweight division right now, the ultimate aging veteran is Clay Guida.

That isn’t a slight at ‘The Carpenter’. For any fighter to remain part of the UFC roster for as long as he has is genuinely incredible. For those who aren’t aware, Guida debuted in the UFC back at UFC 64 in October 2006, almost 15 years ago.

Over the years, Guida has defeated fighters such as Anthony Pettis, Takanori Gomi and B.J. Penn. Unsurprisingly, at the age of 39, it appears that ‘The Carpenter’ is finally beginning to slow down.

However, Guida is still dangerous, as he showed when he defeated Michael Johnson earlier this year. Even in his most recent fight, a decision loss to Mark Madsen, ‘The Carpenter’ was never truly out of contention.

Guida has never been a fantastic finisher, though, meaning that in a lot of ways, he wouldn’t provide that much of a threat to a fighter like Paddy Pimblett who still needs some work on his defense. He’d definitely test ‘The Baddy’, particularly in the realm of takedown defense. However, right now, Guida is definitely a beatable opponent for a high-level up-and-comer like the Englishmanl.

So when you consider that ‘The Carpenter’ still has plenty of name value and a certain level of popularity despite his waning skills, he could well prove to be the perfect opponent for Paddy Pimblett to make his name in beating.