Paddy Pimblett doesn’t think much of Bobby Green.
On July 27, Pimblett faces Green in the featured fight of UFC 304 in Manchester, England. It’s a fight Green called for after beating Jim Miller at UFC 300, and in advance of the matchup, “King” has already dialed up the trash talk, calling Pimblett a “spoiled brat” and telling him he needs to “shut the f*** up.”
Well, Pimblett isn’t listening.
“I’ll be honest, I wanted to fight [Renato] Moicano,” Pimblett told The Mac Life. “I wanted to fight [the guy] ranked No. 10. Moicano is funny. We’d have a good little build-up. Bobby Green is just a bellend. … He’s a proper tool. He’s a proper weapon. He is. The funniest one is, he says, ‘He mentioned me.’ I didn’t mention you! You mentioned me first. So then I mentioned you, you little sausage.
“He’s just a proper tool. I think he’s a proper shit human being. He’s a proper wanker. Saying that I mentioned him first, he’s just lying. Why would I mention you? Why would I mention Bobby Green?”
Just because Pimblett doesn’t like him, doesn’t mean the Liverpool native thinks Green is a walkover. “The Baddy” recognizes Green’s skills, but believes the 37-year-old fighter is a little long in the tooth for their matchup.
“He’s got very good striking,” Pimblett admitted. “He’s got good hands. But his chin is gone after what happened with Jalin Turner. Jim Miller is no knockout artist and he wobbled him once or twice in that fight at UFC 300. I think that is off Jalin Turner absolutely obliterating Bobby Green’s skull into the canvas. So as I said, his striking is very good, his takedown defense is good, and that’s what he’s going to try and do, use his takedown defense and keep it on the feet, because he thinks he’ll out-strike me. But as I said, his chin’s gone. So strike with me, you’ll see what happens.
“I can see meself knocking him out, I can see meself submitting him. I’m sure someone said he’s never been submitted, so that would be nice, to be fair. The first person to submit Bobby Green.”
Green actually has been submitted twice in his career, but not since a welterweight contest in 2009. Now the No. 15 ranked UFC lightweight, Green is Pimblett’s toughest test to date and represents his chance to move to the ranks of legitimate contenders. And should he do what he says come UFC 304, Pimblett believes he will continue moving up the rankings with the matchup he wanted originally, against No. 10-ranked Renato Moicano.
“If I beat Bobby and take rank 15, or whatever happens with the rankings by then, Moicano is still a couple of ranks above me,” Pimblett said. “I just think the build-up to that fight will be great as well. Moicano is funny. He’s a great grappler, I’m a great grappler, I think we’d end up just having a brawl on the feet.”