Paddy Pimblett's countryman and PFL world champion Brendan Loughnane has savaged his fellow Brit, declaring that he "isn't top 10 material" for the UFC.
The Scouse fighter has now fought four times in MMA's top promotion, where Loughnane competed once in his early career. He stopped his first three opponents within two rounds, but when the levels were raised last weekend, he stuttered to an unimpressive and controversial points win over Jared Gordon in his pay-per-view debut at UFC 282.
And the Manchester fighter, who recently won the $1million PFL prize, was in Las Vegas to corner Darren Till on the undercard in his losing effort against Dricus Du Plessis. And he was as unimpressed as many other fighters and fans with Pimblett's performance, declaring that he isn't ready for a big step up in the UFC just yet.
"Paddy's marmite, you love him or you hate him. I don't think he did himself any favours," Loughnane told Sky Sports News. "I'm just being brutally honest, I know Paddy, I like Paddy but he's not top 10 material in the UFC. He's not. Maybe he thinks he is but I really don't and I know, I train with the top 10 UFC guys on a regular and I know the levels. It's scary. The 155lb top 10 is insane."
To land as low as No.14 or 15 in the UFC, one would need to defeat Tony Ferguson or Conor McGregor, and above them there are very few fighters who are on career declines. Pimblett is far from fighting ranked opponents just yet, although a number of fighters have moved forward at a quicker pace.
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And Loughnane is refusing to say that Pimblett will never reach the requisite level, adding: "It's difficult to say because he just pulls wins out the bag as well. He pulls chokes out of nowhere. He's a very good grappler and if he gets you on the ground he will submit you. Great back attacks and really goes for it.
"It's a tough one with Paddy Pimblett, he will win some and he will lose some. Who knows who they'll give him next? I'm hearing Michael Johnson might be the case, all tough fights. They're not easy fights, especially in the UFC."
