Featured Image Credit: Verse Us
Topics: Paddy Pimblett, UFC
Nasir Jabbar
Paddy Pimblett has slammed Charles Oliveira for his performance against Ilia Topuria, ripping into his 'amateur' gameplan at UFC 317.
Oliveira suffered a crushing first round knockout defeat to Topuria in the main-event of last weekend's UFC 317.
'El Matador' claimed the vacant UFC lightweight championship in the process and faced off against Pimblett after being called into the Octagon by Joe Rogan.
'The Baddy', who has been handed a new ranking following UFC 317, was cageside for the Las Vegas event as he witnessed Topuria's sensational performance in the flesh
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Pimblett was full of praise for the new UFC lightweight king, but he was blown away by how 'stupid' Oliveira was in the cage with the MMA superstar.
He questioned Oliveira's gameplan and couldn't believe he was standing in the middle of the cage against the ferocious puncher.
Speaking on the Verse Us podcast, Pimblett exclaimed: "I really like Charles, but what the f**k was that gameplan?
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"Standing in front of him and getting punched in the face. First 30 seconds he did a little bit, teeped him, leg kicked him. And I thought it could be a tough night for Topuria," he said. "But when Oliveira was walking out, I thought he looked nervous... I’d like to know what the gameplan was. What are you doing just standing in the middle?"
The Liverpool fighter added: "It blew my mind how stupid he can be. It was his 47th pro fight, and he was going in there like an amateur.”
Pimblett is hoping to get a crack at long-time rival Topuria, having had a number of run-ins with the Spanish fighter.
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They clashed at UFC London before going back-and-forth at the UFC 282 presser.
The 30-year-old believes a fight against Topuria would generate the same buzz as Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor and revealed his hatred towards his nemesis.
"You don't even need to sell that fight - it sells itself," he said on ESPN's UFC 317 post-fight show.
"Two people who genuinely dislike each other. We don't really get that. We haven't seen that since Khabib and McGregor, two people who actually hate each other. Because I hate him. I wouldn't want to finish him fast, I would want to finish him with a minute left in the fight after I've elbowed him 700 times. I'd want to disfigure him."