Paddy Pimblett 's UFC wins have been brought into question by his upcoming opponent Jordan Leavitt.
'The Baddy' makes his third promotional appearance at UFC London on Saturday night when he faces Leavitt. Pimblett has picked up consecutive first-round finishes against Luigi Vendramini and Kazula Vargas since being signed to the promotion last September.
Despite his unbeaten run, Leavitt has insisted that Pimblett is not the toughest opponent he's faced so far in the UFC. Both Vendramini and Vargas were cut from the UFC following their losses to Pimblett and Leavitt took aim at this when discussing the hype Pimblett has received in the UFC.
"He beat two guys who aren't even on the roster anymore," Leavitt said. "In terms of how I will place in this division before and after this fight, it's absolutely no different. I don't think he's my toughest opponent, I think Trey [Ogden] would have worked him. Every time that anyone has grappled him first he loses, every time sometime takes him past the first round he almost loses.
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"I think I'm too smart to make a lot of the mistakes that his past opponents have made. He's not the most accurate striker, he has one real knockout. I'm not impressed with a lot of things [he does]. I've done a lot of the same things as Paddy but I've done it without taking any damage, nobody knows how good my chin is because I don't get it.
Leavitt holds a respectable record of 10-1 and won his UFC debut in 2020 by a devastating slam-knockout in just 22-seconds. 'The Monkey King', who is considered Pimblett's toughest UFC challenge so far, has vowed to twerk on The O2 arena if he beats the Liverpudlian.
Pimblett has predicted he will produce an "iconic" first-round knockout against Leavitt and make the American pay for downplaying his credentials. Leavitt, who has previously admitted that his chances of knocking out 'The Baddy' are slim, claimed that he is better on the ground than his rival.
"He's not very good on the front foot, so I don't imagine his pressure is going to be an issue," Leavitt added. "I'm a much better grappler and wrestler than him, so the idea that he's going to just run and throw punches recklessly then I'm going to fall and cover-up. I don't think that's going to happen."
