Paddy Pimblett following Conor McGregor's lead, says MMA 'going to become a mainstream sport in Britain thanks to me'

In just under three weeks’ time, the most significant events on the 2016 MMA calendar will unfold successively across alternate time-zones, continents and cities.

In the hours before New York City finally gets its first taste of professional MMA via the outrageously stacked UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden, there are many who will whet their appetite by tuning into “Cage Warriors: Unplugged” live from London.

Indeed, the showcases will overlap conveniently for viewers thanks to a canny broadcasting symbiosis.

BT Sport, who exclusively air live UFC events in the U.K. and Ireland, will broadcast Cage Warriors Unplugged live from their studios in the English capital prior to beginning coverage of UFC 205.

For those without BT Sport or residing elsewhere, the card will also be streamed live on UFC Fight Pass.

Occasions such as these require bone fide star power, and Cage Warriors have prudently placed the most magnetic fighter on their roster at top billing.

Paddy Pimblett (12-1), who will defend his featherweight title against UFC and “The Ultimate Fighter” vet Julian Erosa (16-3) in a five-round main event, is unquestionably a man in the midst of a meteoric rise.

The 21-year-old Liverpudlian has taken the regional scene by storm with a string of spectacular showings in the cage, and some equally memorable performances whenever confronted by a microphone.

Paddy Pimblett, Chris Fishgold

In September, Pimblett clinched the vacant featherweight crown with a stunning first-round TKO of Johnny Frachey in the presence of a febrile hometown crowd in Liverpool’s Echo Arena at CWFC 78.

As a jubilant Pimblett launched himself into a then-unhinged audience after dispatching of the Frenchmen with a leaping right-hook, the overriding consensus was that the next time we saw him, it would be under the UFC banner.

However, he decided to extend his contract with Cage Warriors into 2017 and, after negotiations failed with another “TUF” veteran, Brendan Loughnane, Erosa was drafted in to face Pimblett.

Not that he’s particularly perturbed by the identity, record or prowess of any man he happens to be paired with.

“It’s just another fight to me, just another sparring session,” Pimblett told MMAjunkie. “The only time that it’s really special for me is when I’m fighting in front of my own crowd. (Erosa) is very unorthodox, but so am I, so it’ll be a fun a fight. I’m hoping it’s a bit of a scrap because my last one was the opposite.

“If he beat me it would be his way back into the UFC, but let’s be honest, he’s not going to beat me. He’s got nothing for me anywhere, and he’s chinny and doesn’t like getting hit. I like getting hit; it’s great.”

‘Nobody can beat me when we get inside them cage walls’

If Pimblett sounds like a stereotypical fighter, he certainly doesn’t look like one. His bowled, long blond locks frame cherubic features, and he could easily pass for far younger than his 21 years.

However, his resume speaks with an even greater authority than he can; Pimblett is currently on an eight-fight winning streak, and all but two of those victories have arrived inside the distance.

That’s not to say he doesn’t enjoy extolling his own virtues, but he manages to do so without venturing into the belligerent. Pimblett’s self-belief is unblinking, but if it wasn’t, he insists, then the world of prize-fighting would not be an appropriate career path.

“Ever since I’ve started, I’ve always been the same,” Pimblett said. “That’s what my coach always says to me – that mentally I’m the best he’s ever seen, just because of the way I am. If you want to be the best in the world at something, you can be. That’s just my outlook on life.

“No one is going to beat me, no matter what. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, how big you are, what your name is, who your dad is – it doesn’t matter. Nobody can beat me when we get inside them cage walls.”

Pimblett was hooked on the sport from the moment he walked through the doors of his gym at Next Generation MMA, but the desire to pursue MMA as his livelihood was initially met with stern opposition from his parents and teachers.

“I remember when I was still in school a teacher telling me to stop training,” Pimblett recalled. “‘You’re too small for that, Patrick. You’ll never get nowhere with that, you’re an academic. Stop wasting your time and money doing that.’

“I went to college for the first year, but only because it was close to the gym. Then one day I fell out with my mum and dad because the college rang them saying I was missing classes, and then they kicked me out.”

He subsequently had reservations of his own, which resulted in the first and only defeat of his career to date. It would take Cameron Else 35 seconds to submit Pimblett at CWFC 60 just over three years ago, and the loss proved to be a watershed in his development.

“I left college, went pro, but even when I went pro I was thinking about swerving MMA because I wasn’t earning enough,” Pimblett said. “It was getting me depressed, and then I lost, and it lit a fire under my arse.

“I wish I didn’t have that loss but, at the same time, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. At the time I was coasting and went into that fight thinking I’d already won it. That just showed me that you’ve never won a fight until you go in there and get your hand raised.”

‘It’s going to become a mainstream sport in Britain thanks to me’

Pimblett is part of a generation of emerging U.K. fighters whose path to the apex of the sport has been cleared by names such as Michael Bisping, Dan Hardy and Ross Pearson. However, his ambitions transcend titles and fame.

“There’s me, Tom Breese, Arnold Allen and Chris Fishgold (Cage Warriors lightweight champion), and we’re all about 21 to 25. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m going to do for Britain what Conor McGregor has done for MMA in Ireland.

“It’s a mainstream sport in Ireland now, it’s going to become a mainstream sport in Britain thanks to me. I’m going to make sure that the sport gets regulated and is not classed as entertainment no more.”

With such lofty aspirations, you’d think that Pimblett would be incredibly eager to expedite his progression to UFC, but he’s got time on his side and feels hugely valued in the employ of Cage Warriors.

“I’m only 21, so there’s no point rushing. I’ve got years of this to be doing. Look at Dan Henderson; he’s 47 and fighting for world titles, and that’s more than double my age. I feel at home with Cage Warriors.

“They’ve got my best interests at heart and they look after me. They’ve just made me the highest paid fighter in the U.K., outside of the UFC and Bellator, so it shows how much they have my interest at heart.”

He plans to repay Cage Warriors’ investment in him by making light work of Julian Erosa, before returning to his beloved native city with the promotion next April, for what he believes will be its biggest event ever.

Paddy Pimblett

“I going to defend that title, and I’m going to be one of the first people to defend that in a few years. I’m going to show everyone how good I am, by beating this yank that they’re all going on about.

“When I fight again in the Echo Arena, that’s going to be the biggest fight in Cage Warriors history because we’ll get 11,000 in there.”

Fittingly, Pimblett finds himself in good company as a Cage Warriors 145-pound kingpin given that the last three – Conor McGregor, Jim Alers and Alex Enlund – all vacated the title to sign a UFC contract.

And, while his immediate future is on the European circuit, over the horizon Pimblett has set his sights on the UFC’s featherweight division and beyond.

“The UFC is the pinnacle of the sport so if you want to be a legend and known as the best in the world, then you need to be there, so that’s the plan. Featherweight is a great division to be in now, particularly with McGregor being the champ and Aldo being the interim champ.

“I don’t know what’s going on with those two, but when I get in there I’m going to set it alight. I’ll do that with whatever division I’m in, because I’m not going to be a featherweight forever.”

For more on “Cage Warriors: Unplugged,” check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.