Paddy Pimblett Considers Fight IQ to Be Comparable to Jon Jones

Paddy Pimblett has put himself on quite the pedestal in terms of fight IQ.

Pimblett scored the biggest win of his career so far by mauling Michael Chandler en route to a third-round TKO win at UFC 314 on Saturday. “The Baddy” believes he and his team’s game plan had a big role to play in the way he decimated Chandler. Pimblett considers his fight IQ to be comparable to Jon Jones, one of the greatest to have ever graced the Octagon.

While many believed Chandler could knock Pimblett out, the Liverpudlian also outstruck “Iron” on the feet. Pimblett said that he is so confident about his grappling that he has been solely focusing on his stand-up game for a while now.

“Me and my team, we got the best game planners that you can get. We’ve got the best fight IQ,” Pimblett said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “And the only other person that I can compare to us with game plans as good as we do is Jon Jones. We do the best game plans, that’s why we come out and demolish people. That’s why I’ve just come out and beat Chandler up for three rounds before finishing him. I knew I had better striking than him. People underestimate my striking only once. I’ve focused on it so much over the past two years because I know me grappling is light years ahead of everyone else’s… So I don’t really have to grapple anymore, I just focus on striking.”

This was Pimblett’s fifth finish in seven straight UFC wins. Currently, Pimblett considers himself just one victory away from a title shot. However, it won’t be an easy task as Pimblett is targeting Charles Oliveira, Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje and Arman Tsarukyan, who all belong to the Top 5.

“I personally think now I’m one fight away from the title. The names that I just mentioned – If I beat Charles, Dustin, Justin, even Arman [Tsarukyan] that little b—h a—. Beat any of them four and I’m fighting for the belt after that.”