Paddy Pimblett is presently recuperating from shoulder injuries sustained before his UFC 296 triumph over Tony Ferguson.
However, by the summer, Pimblett intends to square off against the fighter who recently issued a challenge: Renato Moicano.
Pimblett disclosed this on his YouTube channel:
“That is who I want next, Renato Moicano — ‘Money’ Moicano — you owe me money, lad. I’m coming for you, little sausage.”
Moicano called for a showdown with Pimblett on his home turf at UFC 301, scheduled for May 4 in Rio de Janeiro. Pimblett countered that such a timeframe isn’t feasible.
“I saw something the other day on Twitter … I’m meant to be fighting Renato Moicano at UFC 301,” the U.K. star said. “No, no. My kid’s going to be about two weeks old. I’m not fighting that soon. I won’t be fighting until, like, June or July.”
Pimblett revealed that his shoulders are still tender from the injuries he sustained. His strength and conditioning coach, Paul Reed, mentioned that he suffered multiple labral tears, one of which was quite severe. Consequently, much of Pimblett’s regimen has focused on recovery exercises.
Pimblett is no stranger to injury setbacks. He endured an ankle injury during a contentious decision victory over Jared Gordon at UFC 282 and spent the majority of 2023 recuperating. He stated that his shoulder injury occurred during training camp for the bout with Ferguson. The two met inside the octagon at UFC 296 with the Englishman securing a unanimous decision win.
“I went into that last fight injured, but I never said nothing, I just got on with it. I’m back in the gym, training in the new year. My shoulders are still sore even after two, three weeks off, so I got them looked at, had an MRI on both. I’ve got a tear in both shoulders, so all I’ve done for the past month is lots of kicking.”
With a four-fight winning streak, a victory over Moicano could propel Pimblett into the UFC’s top-15 rankings, currently occupied by the Brazilian at No. 13.
Moicano most recently competed in the octagon at UFC Vegas 85, where he defeated Drew Dober in a grueling contest. Subsequently, he unveiled his strategy to goad Pimblett into accepting the challenge.
Moicano expressed this on The MMA Hour:
“If I go over that and I say, ‘Hey, Paddy Pimblett, I’m going to beat you up,’ everybody does that. So I said, ‘OK, I’m going to make him get the bait.’ Because if I beat Drew Dober and I say Drew Dober will beat you, he’s going to get mad, because he’s going to say, ‘Hey, I can beat you. You beat Drew Dober.’ So at the end of the day, ‘Money’ Moicano is winning again. This is chess, not checkers.”
Based on Pimblett’s response to Moicano, it seems the Brazilian’s strategy is yielding results. Below is Pimblett’s complete video blog.
