Paddy Pimblett believes he can still earn a UFC lightweight title shot despite falling short in his previous opportunity.
Pimblett came up short against Justin Gaethje in their interim lightweight title fight at UFC 324 in January. Gaethje went on to challenge Ilia Topuria for the undisputed championship at the UFC's historic event on the White House grounds last month, pulling off the biggest victory of his career.
Now, Pimblett is focused on getting back into title contention when he faces Benoît Saint Denis this Saturday at T-Mobile Arena. Speaking to TMZ, the Liverpool native reflected on his loss to Gaethje and said he believes the outcome was meant to happen.
“I think it was fate that (Gaethje) beat me. It was his destiny to beat me so that he could go on and win at the White House lawn against Ilia when no-one gave him a chance. I just think it was destiny and I think if we fought again I’d win.”
While Pimblett is confident a victory over Saint Denis will move him closer to another shot at UFC gold, he acknowledged that one more win will likely be needed before he gets another opportunity to compete for the lightweight title.
“But I can’t just beat BSD who’s ranked (number) five and say (that) I deserve the title (shot) next. You’ve got to let the UFC do what they do, and obviously if I can fight for the title after I beat BSD, I would. I don’t think I’m going to be able to though, I’ll have to beat somebody else first and I’m more than willing to do so. I’ll keep fighting until I end up winning that belt.”
A win over Saint Denis would strengthen Pimblett's case as one of the lightweight division's top contenders and put him in position for another high-profile matchup later this year.
