Jon Anik sees a lot of comparison between rising stars Paddy Pimblett and Ian Machado Garry.
While Garry is set to headline UFC Kansas City this Saturday against Carlos Prates, Pimblett is coming off of the biggest win of his career against Michael Chandler at UFC 314. “The Paddy” is certainly receiving praise from the MMA community, while others are not giving Pimblett the credit he deserves — which is one of the main comparisons between Pimblett and Garry, according to Anik.
“Well, I think part of it is because people have selective memory when it comes to Michael Chandler’s body of work and the way stylistically, he has fought the elite guys, which is the same way he has fought everybody else,” Anik told MMA Fighting. “But Michael Chandler was so close to beating one of those elite guys and then the whole narrative on Chandler’s career changes, I draw parallels to Ian Machado Garry when it comes to Paddy Pimblett, because for whatever reason, people focus on things other than the martial arts athlete when it comes to these two guys. And for me, not because I’m a promoter, but I’m trying to see who I think can be the world champion, right?
“Like when I save fighter cards, and I do save some of these purposefully, but the reason why I have all of Ilia Topuria’s fighter cards is because I thought he could be something. I have long believed in Paddy Pimblett, and I think people so leaned into the hair or the Jared Gordon result, or that wayward performance, or rating skills, or pick something else to focus on. But for me, it’s like I’m focused, on the fighter meetings. I’m focused on the guy that could have come to the UFC at 21 [years old] but came when he was a proper athlete, and the kid who can’t wait to use 12-to-6 elbows now that they’re legal, the mean streak, the violent nature of his game, the fact that unlike some people, [having] kids have taken his discipline and motivational levels to a different place, right?
“Like Sean O’Malley, when he had a kid, it’s like, does the kid bring any different motivation He’s like, ‘No, I’m doing this for myself,’ and I respect that too. But, yeah, Paddy Pimblett’s a real problem.”
Following the win, Pimblett has been calling for a fight with a top contender — most notably Charles Oliveira — in order to solidify a championship opportunity.
If Pimblett made the choice to focus his promotional juices on earning a title shot with a win over Chandler in Miami, Anik wouldn’t have blamed him one bit.
“When I sat down with him before the Chandler fight, it’s not like he’s talking about Islam Makhachev, which he could be,” Anik explained. “Islam doesn’t have an obvious opponent right now. Heaven forbid Paddy Pimblett lay out a case, he’s asking to fight Charles f*cking Oliveira because he believes in himself. ...
“I thought Ian Machado Garry really could have, and maybe should have gotten a title fight in Montreal against Belal Muhammad. The reason Shavkat can’t go is because he had to go 25 hard [minutes] against Ian Machado Garry and he can’t make the walk, right? Why is Ian not getting that opportunity? So there’s a lot of different things that go into it, and I bring it up in the context of Paddy Pimblett because, unless you think he’s gonna get absolutely washed in a non-competitive way against Charles Oliveira, I don’t necessarily see so much downside to that matchup.
“To me, it’s like, gosh, Patty Pimblett-Charles Oliveira has become my dream fight right next to Khamzat Chimaev and Dricus du Plessis. So unless you think he’s gonna get absolutely washed, I don’t know that a loss to Charles is necessarily fraught with downside. But yes, you could have him lay back in the cut and give him a title fight right now, especially because you have a lightweight champion that because Arman Tsarukyan kind of screwed himself, doesn’t have an obvious next in line.”
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