UFC fighter Paddy Pimblett, currently recovering from shoulder injuries, has expressed his readiness to face Renato Moicano, who recently called him out, by summer, despite Moicano’s call for a showdown at UFC 301 in May, which Pimblett deemed too soon.
Paddy Pimblett, right? He’s on the mend. Shoulder injuries, they’re a real pain. Got ’em before his UFC 296 win over Tony Ferguson. Tough guy, Paddy.
Summer’s coming and so is Pimblett. He’s got his sights set on Renato Moicano. Yeah, the one who called him out.
Pimblett’s exact words? On his YouTube channel, he said, “That is who I want next. Renato Moicano — ‘Money’ Moicano — you owe me money, lad. I’m coming for you, little sausage.” Quite the character, our Paddy.
Moicano’s got a plan too. He wants a showdown with Pimblett on his home turf. UFC 301, May 4, Rio de Janeiro. But Pimblett’s not having it. Not that soon, he says.
He tweeted something like, “I saw something the other day on Twitter … I’m meant to be fighting Renato Moicano at UFC 301. No, no. My kid’s going to be about two weeks old. I’m not fighting that soon. I won’t be fighting until, like, June or July.”
Pimblett’s shoulders? Still hurting. His coach, Paul Reed, said he’s got multiple labral tears. One’s pretty bad. So, Pimblett’s been focusing on recovery exercises.
Injuries aren’t new to Pimblett. Ankle injury at UFC 282, remember? Controversial decision win over Jared Gordon. Spent most of 2023 healing. The shoulder injury? Happened while training for the Ferguson bout.
Pimblett’s a trooper though. “I went into that last fight injured, but I never said nothing, I just got on with it,” he said. “I’m back in the gym, training in the new year. My shoulders are still sore even after two, three weeks off, so I got them looked at, had an MRI on both. I’ve got a tear in both shoulders, so all I’ve done for the past month is lots of kicking.”
Pimblett’s on a roll. Four-fight winning streak. If he beats Moicano, he’ll break into the UFC’s top-15 rankings. Moicano’s currently No. 13.
Moicano’s last fight? UFC Vegas 85. Outpointed Drew Dober. After the fight, he revealed his Pimblett plan.
Moicano’s strategy? He said on The MMA Hour, “If I go over that and I say, ‘Hey, Paddy Pimblett, I’m going to beat you up,’ everybody does that. So I said, ‘OK, I’m going to make him get the bait.’ Because if I beat Drew Dober and I say Drew Dober will beat you, he’s going to get mad, because he’s going to say, ‘Hey, I can beat you. You beat Drew Dober.’ So at the end of the day, ‘Money’ Moicano is winning again. This is chess, not checkers.”
Looks like Moicano’s plan is working. Pimblett’s biting. Check out Pimblett’s full video blog below.