Paddy Pimblett brutalised Michael Chandler at UFC 314 on Saturday, stopping the veteran in round three to move closer to a title shot.
Pimblett and Chandler squared off in the co-main event in Miami’s Kaseya Center, with five rounds scheduled at lightweight. However, “Paddy The Baddy” needed just two-and-a-half rounds to dismiss Chandler, forcing a TKO with a barrage of ground strikes.
While Chandler, 38, had his moments in round one, having taken down and controlled Pimblett, the latter was landing leg kicks at will. And the Briton built more momentum in round two, quickly recovering from a second takedown to get on top and threaten submissions.
Chandler survived a Kimura attempt and a rear naked choke late in the round, but the following frame would bring the end – and a third straight loss for the former three-time Bellator champion.
Pimblett, 30, hurt Chandler with a jumping knee before getting ahold of the American and slamming him to the mat, where Pimblett reached mount and rained down elbows, hammer fists and punches on an already bloody Chandler.
The referee stepped in to hand Pimblett the win, before the Liverpudlian told Joe Rogan: “Lad, literally everything I have worked with my team, all the fight run-throughs we’ve done, has just happened here.
“This is how we win: we gameplan, we use our fight IQ, and we beat motherf*****s up. [I want] anyone in the top four, top five. I want that world title. Laugh all you want. What now? You gang of mushrooms.
“I want Dustin [Poirier], Justin [Gaethje], Charles [Oliveira] or the little posh boy Arman [Tsarukyan] – any of them four. I respect Dustin, Justin and Charles.
“Charles is the biggest legend out of them all, and he gets called the best submitting artist the UFC’s ever seen. Well, I dispute that, I’m here.”
With Saturday’s result, Pimblett extended his UFC record to 7-0, and he will surely enter the lightweight top 10 next week. In fact, he may find himself within one win of a title shot.
Meanwhile, Chandler’s UFC record fell to 2-5, a disappointing development amid a phase of his career that saw him wait almost two years for a Conor McGregor fight – which was signed but never came.
