Paddy Pimblett put his first UFC defeat firmly behind him, bouncing back in style at UFC 329 with a breathtaking win over Benoit Saint Denis.
Pimblett got the job done via submission inside the first minute of their fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The win halts Saint Denis’s four-fight finishing streak and puts the Liverpudlian firmly back in the lightweight title conversation, just months after his decision defeat to Justin Gaethje in January.
Pimblett wasted no time. He shot in early and landed a clean takedown of his own, and Saint Denis never got the chance to establish himself.
Once the fight hit the floor, Pimblett’s grappling pedigree took over as he worked quickly into a dominant position and locked up the choke, leaving Saint Denis without an answer.
Pimblett arrived in Las Vegas under more scrutiny than at any previous point in his career. January’s loss to Gaethje – his first defeat inside the Octagon – ended his unbeaten UFC run and cost him a shot at interim gold, prompting fresh questions from critics who had long doubted whether his level of opposition matched his level of hype.
A defeat here would have made it back-to-back losses for the first time in his professional career.
MORE TO FOLLOW…
Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett made easy work of Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 329 with a business-like first-round submission that sent the Las Vegas crowd into hysterics.
Pimblett reacts as Saint-Denis lies motionless on the mat at UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena
