Paddy Pimblett outlines path to victory against Benoît Saint Denis
Paddy Pimblett is set to face Benoît Saint Denis at UFC 329 on July 11, and he believes his skillset presents a unique problem that his opponent won't solve.
With UFC 329 fast-approaching, Paddy Pimblett is hard at work, preparing to do everything in his power to get his hand raised come July 11. He is so confident in his training, in fact, that he took to YouTube with a video, wherein he briefly broke down exactly why he feels he'll emerge victorious against Benoît Saint Denis.
Paddy Pimblett believes he can neutralize his opponent
Amid a recent training session, Paddy Pimblett touched on the dynamics of his upcoming bout with Benoît Saint Denis, who is among the most punishing grapplers in the UFC lightweight division. Ironically, that is exactly why 'The Baddy' believes his opponent will be at a loss once they meet inside the octagon. In Pimblett's mind, he is too dangerous on the ground for 'BSD' to attempt to take down (6:13):
"We know 'BSD' is gonna try and take me down. Well, we don't know he's gonna try and take me down, but we've gotta be ready for all things, know what I mean? And 'BSD' takes most people down. I think he might be a little afraid to take me down because he knows I'll submit him on the ground, but once I hit you with a few punches, a few kicks, knees, elbows, you're gonna revert back to default settings, and them default settings for him are shooting takedowns."
Pimblett is primarily a submission specialist, but has always been a serviceable striker in terms of offense. He has solid front kicks to the body that he uses to manage distance, and his hooks are swung with good power. While his defense leaves a lot to be desired, as he often fails to both move his head off the center-line and tuck his chin, his toughness is such that he has been able to avoid getting knocked out. Even the powerful Justin Gaethje, who he faced at UFC 324 for the interim lightweight title, couldn't knock him out. Gaethje did, however, knock him down and deal a tremendous amount of damage over five rounds. 'The Baddy' will look to bounce back from that loss.
Meanwhile, his opponent is on a four-fight win streak, with every win being a finish. Saint Denis TKO'd Dan Hooker in round two at UFC 325, knocked out Beneil Dariush in just 16 seconds at UFC 322, submitted Maurício Ruffy in round two at UFC Fight Night 258, and submitted Kyle Prepolec in round two at UFC 315.
