Paddy Pimblett suffered an ankle injury during his unanimous decision victory over Jared Gordon last month and it’s now emerged that he needs surgery to fix the issue.
“Looks like you have got a small amount of cartilage, the other thing you’ve got is all this white stuff around here, that’s all fluid and what all the swelling is,” a doctor told Pimblett during a recent hospital visit which was filmed for his YouTube channel.
“When we look at the ligaments which joins from your fibula, you’ve probably got what we call a grade two injury.”
Pimblett is now set to undergo surgery in March, which means he wouldn’t be ready in time to fight at UFC 286 in London, England on the 16th of that month, which had always looked to be the likely landing spot for his next bout after having made a big impression in the last two events held at the 02 Arena.
However, though his two decisive wins in that venue helped Pimblett’s stock rise in a major way in 2022 to become one of the promotion’s most talked about stars, his decision victory over Gordon in Las Vegas in December saw him struggle to match the pre-fight hype, with many fans and media members believing that his opponent should have been declared the winner.
For his part, the 28-year-old Pimblett admitted in an interview last month that he’s not in a hurry to fight the best the lightweight division has to offer despite his current four-fight winning streak, suggesting that a title push could be years away.
“I’m going to be champ in about 2025-26, I’m in no rush. I’m going to climb my way up the ladder and earn a lot of money while I do so. It’s prize-fighting, people say ‘oh you should be fighting the best,’ I want to provide enough money for my fiancee, my unborn children and the rest of my family for the rest of my life, that’s what I’m going to do.”
