Paddy Pimblett has revealed the five UFC lightweights he wants to face across the next two years.
'The Baddy' recently put the entire UFC lightweight division on notice by knocking out Luigu Vendrimani on his UFC debut.
Pimblett's impressive finish, as well as his iconic post-fight interview with Michael Bisping, instantly went viral. Whilst Pimblett has previously stated that he is willing to fight his way up into the rankings, he recently told Teddy Atlas that he aims to be fighting the top five in his division in the next two years.
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Speaking on The Fight with Teddy Atlas, Paddy Pimblett listed five UFC lightweights that he has aspirations of testing himself against. As it happens, those five fighters are the division's current top five-ranked 155ers.
Paddy Pimblett stated the following:
"I think the best 155er in the world is Dustin Poirier. Even though he hasn't got the belt. I think he's gonna win the belt. Then Oliveira's brilliant. I rate Islam Makhachev as well. I'd like to fight people like that. The top echelons of the division. Michael Chandler, Justin Gaethje. People like that. They're the top five I think and in the next two years, that's who I wanna be fighting."
Considering the hype surrounding Pimblett as of late, he may well be facing off against ranked opposition within a year.
Paddy Pimblett discusses what his next step in the UFC will be
Paddy Pimblett was also asked by Teddy Atlas who he is looking to fight next now that he has his first UFC win under his belt. Pimblett's answer was not as clear cut as one might hope. He stated the following:
"I'm not looking into anyone. I don't need to. The amount of people that are talking about me, on Twitter and Instagram. Fighters in the 155-pound division, even fighters in other divisions, lads. Their all making pictures with my hair on them. They want to jump on the Paddy wagon lad. Like, people can use my name all they want but I'm not gonna be mentioning anyone's name. I don't need to. I'll just sit here and smile."
You can check out Paddy Pimblett's full interview with Teddy Atlas below: