Exclusive: Paddy Pimblett ready to right wrongs against Tony Ferguson at UFC 296 - 'Tough times create tough people'
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 11/12/2023 at 15:18 GMT
Paddy 'The Baddy' Pimblett is ready to make his return to the Octagon at UFC 296 after a year sidelined by injury. The English fighter earned a controversial win over Jared Gordon last December but hurt himself in the process, requiring surgery on his foot. He told TNT Sports about how difficult a year out has been, but that "tough times create tough people" ahead of his bout with Tony Ferguson.
Paddy Pimblett
Image credit: Getty Images
Paddy Pimblett says “tough times create tough people” as he prepares to “right the wrongs” on his return to the Octagon at UFC 296 following a difficult year out with injury.
The English fighter has been absent since suffering a serious foot injury during his bout with Jared Gordon last December at UFC 282.
He faces former Interim Lightweight champion Tony Ferguson in Las Vegas on December 16, live on TNT Sports Box Office.
“It’s been a long year. When you’re not fighting and you’re not active it seems to take longer than it does,” Pimblett told TNT Sports.
“The first four or five months of the year were difficult, having to get surgery and up until the end of May, when I got married, it wasn’t good.
“But it takes tough times to create tough people, so you’ve got to get through it.”
Pimblett took his last win by a unanimous decision that was booed by some fans and resulted in
The controversy surrounding the bout, where Pimblett was unconvincing but extended his perfect UFC record to four fights, made the injury lay-off even harder for the 28-year-old to deal with.
“You’re only judged on your last performance, and I can understand that. But I couldn’t right the wrong, I couldn’t get back in there and show everyone the improvement I’ve made,” Pimblett said.
He added: “When I watched it back, I understand why people think it was a close fight because it could have gone either way. If people are calling it a robbery, they’re just jumping on the hate bandwagon.
“I ended up needing three surgeries, we couldn’t just do a standard surgery,” Pimblett continued.
“I had to get full ligament reconstruction and I’ve got artificial ligaments in my foot now basically.
“Inner ligament reconstruction, outer ligament reconstruction, and my CFL [calcaneofibular ligament] in the middle. Obviously because of that it was tough.
“For 12 weeks I couldn’t do anything. It’s been rough, it’s been hard. The first part of this year was very hard.”
Ferguson is on a six-fight losing streak and is in the twilight of his decorated career at the age of 39.
But Pimblett isn’t underestimating an opponent he looked up to growing up.
“I really respect Tony Ferguson, he’s one of the top five lightweights of all time,” Pimblett said.
Asked if he was a fan of the American when he was younger, Pimblett said: “Yeah, who wasn’t?
“Even I want Tony Ferguson to get a win and then retire, I just can’t let him do it at my expense, it’s not happening.
“I’m going in there expecting what turned up against Donald Cerrone and Anthony Pettis, I’m not expecting the slow version that turned up against Bobby Green.
“I’m expecting the best version of Tony. It’s going to be an absolute honour to share the cage with him.”
He added: “He’ll want to have a war, and we’ll see who falls first. I’m game to get in there with him and try and have an absolute barn-burner and make up for the fight from last year and get a 50 grand bonus. Even better, I could 100 grand if it’s fight of the night and performance of the night!”
Leon Edwards v Colby Covington is the main event at UFC 296.
How to watch Edwards v Covington in the UK on TV
UFC 296: Edwards vs. Covington costs £19.99 in the UK and can be watched through EE TV, Virgin Media TV and Sky, online via the web or the TNT Sports Box Office App. You do not need to be a TNT Sports subscriber to buy this event.
- Sky customers can purchase TNT Sports Box Office on channel 490 via their remote control or via https://www.sky.com/boxoffice/tnt-sports
- Customers in the Republic of Ireland can purchase TNT Sports Box Office via Sky at https://www.sky.com/boxoffice/tnt-sports - €29.99 or €34.99 (on the day)
- Virgin Media TV customers in the UK: customers with a TiVo and/or V6 set-top-box should visit the On-Demand section and choose Live Events; customers with a Virgin TV 360 and/or Stream set-top-box should go to the Pay Per View rail
- EE TV customers can go to channel 494 and pay using their remote control.
- Viewers wanting to watch the fight online should visit www.tntsports.co.uk/boxoffice and follow instructions to subscribe and watch on the web or on the TNT Sports Box Office App, customers can choose to watch on the big screen using Google Chromecast and Apple Airplay.
- EE, Three, Vodafone and O2 customers watching online or via the TNT Sports Box Office App can choose to add the payment to their mobile bill.
- - -
TNT Sports presents the premium live sports rights previously carried by BT Sport including the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Investec Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup, MotoGP, Cricket, UFC, Boxing and WWE. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination. You can also watch TNT Sports through BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement