Unless Paddy Pimblett is trolling everyone it seems almost certain that his next fight will be against Benoit Saint Denis.
“I’m not going to reveal who me opponent is, the UFC will do that in due course,” Pimblett said at the end of his latest video blog, while holding a baguette with onions draped around his neck and a beret on his head. “We’ll find out soon enough, won’t we?”
Pimblett’s post comes hot on the heels of a post from French fighter BSD in which he’s holding up a UFC contract with his baby propped up on his shoulder.
The rumor-mill is currently suggesting that the plan is for Pimblett to fight Saint Denis at UFC 329 on July 11th during International Fight Week in Las Vegas.
Pimblett had previously made a request to Dana White to fight on the UFC 329 card while attending the UFC: London post-fight presser last month, and the UFC CEO agreed without hesitation.
Industry insider Ariel Helwani stated his belief yesterday that the fight will happen at that event, and meanwhile UFC color commentator Michael Bisping has said he believes that it’s a good fight to make.
“Paddy vs. Benoit Saint-Denis at International fight week, this makes a tremendous amount of sense,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel.
“It’s got all the marketing. Paddy talks a lot of [expletive] as we know. He’s got tremendous grappling, and he showed last time that he’s a dog and he’s got the chin and all that. Benoit Saint-Denis, the former French special forces guy. That guy’s a killer. He really is. Last time out, he looked absolutely phenomenal. So, I think that’s the fight they’re gonna do.”
Pimblett quickly became a big star in the UFC during his initial seven-fight winning streak in the promotion, which saw him beat the likes of Michael Chandler, King Green and Tony Ferguson.
That earned him an interim lightweight title shot against Justin Gaethje back in January, and while he lost that fight by unanimous decision he still retains his star power heading into his next fight.
As for Saint Denis, he made a name for himself as an exciting action fighter during a destructive five-fight winning run a few years ago, only to then suffer back-to-back defeats by KO and TKO.
However, BSD has since got right back on track with four stoppage wins in a row, beating the likes of Mauricio Ruffy, Beneil Dariush and Dan Hooker.
So this is a big fight, but it may not be the match-up to front the UFC 329 event as there’s still rumors that Conor McGregor’s long-awaited comeback may happen on this show, with Ariel Helwani continuing to suggest that a fight with Max Holloway could be in the works.
“It appears we could be getting BSD x Paddy at UFC 329, alongside a Conor McGregor return, a Gable Steveson debut, Sandhagen x Bautista, and more,” Helwani wrote on X. “If everything goes according to plan, we’re looking at a tremendous IFW. And fair play to Paddy—you could make the case this is his toughest fight in the UFC. No step back after his loss to Gaethje. A big-time fight at lightweight.“
