Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett nearly took the roof off the O2 Arena with a superb come-from-behind submission finish of Kazula Vargas at UFC London.
After a wild entrance that saw the 20,000-strong London crowd serenade Pimblett with “Oh, Paddy The Baddy!” the Liverpudlian went to work as he faced gritty Mexican Vargas in a lightweight main card bout.
Vargas wasn’t in town to roll over without a fight, and he nearly flipped the script early when he caught Pimblett flush with a solid shot that briefly seemed to stun the Scouser.
But Pimblett recovered swiftly, as he turned to his grappling to buy him recovery time, then beautifully judo-threw his man down to the canvas.
With Vargas on his back, Pimblett went to work on the mat and, after taking the Mexican’s back, locked up a rear-naked choke to force the tap at the 3:49 mark of the opening round.
PADDY PIMBLETT GETS IT DONE IN ONE! @theufcbaddy put the squeeze on him! #UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/ebWmwYjmbX
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) March 19, 2022
It was another rollercoaster Paddy Pimblett fight, as “The Baddy” got clipped early, only to fight through adversity before scoring the finish he’d promised the English fans.
After the fight, he rebuffed Ilia Topuria’s earlier callout, saying “Lions do not concern themselves with the opinions of sheep,” before turning his ire to Facebook supremo Mark Zuckerberg for shutting down his Instagram account.
But, perhaps more interestingly to UFC president Dana White, was Pimblett’s other request.
“The O2, it’s too small!” he told Michael Bisping.
“Get me a stadium. Get me Anfield. We’ll sell it out!”
Make no mistake, he would.
"I'm never in a boring ????ght, lad! I have to get punched in the face to get woke up!" –@theufcbaddy! #UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/rI2ms2iN85
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) March 19, 2022
UFC London: Official Results
MAIN CARD
- Tom Aspinall def. Alexander Volkov via submission (straight armbar) – Round 1, 3:44
- Arnold Allen def. Dan Hooker via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:33
- Paddy Pimblett def. Kazula Vargas via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:49
- Gunnar Nelson def. Takashi Sato via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
- Molly McCann vs. Luana Carolina via knockout (spinning back elbow) – Round 3, 1:52
- Ilia Topuria def. Jai Herbert via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 1:07
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Makwan Amirkhani def. Mike Grundy via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 1, 0:57
- Sergei Pavlovich def. Shamil Abdurakhimov via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:03
- Paul Craig def. Nikita Krylov via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 3:57
- Jack Shore def. Timur Valiev via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
- Elise Reed def. Cory McKenna via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
- Muhammad Mokaev def. Cody Durden via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:58
