UFC 304: Paddy Pimblett weighs in on a lightweight fight against Alex Volkanovski

Paddy Pimblett is a rising lightweight star with 2.9 million Instagram followers. And he’s just made a surprise call on fighting Alex Volkanovski.

Brendan Bradford

@1bbradfo

3 min read

July 27, 2024 - 3:00PM

Paddy Pimblett fights King Green at UFC 304 this weekend. Picture: Getty Images

Liverpool superstar Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett wouldn’t turn down a fight with Alex Volkanovski if one was offered.

But he’d much prefer to meet him in person, and maybe have a pint this week in Manchester.

Pimblett can make good on his immense potential and break into the top 15 of the lightweight rankings with an impressive win over King Green at UFC 304 in Manchester on Sunday.

With 2.9 million followers on Instagram, he’s one of the UFC’s biggest drawcards and will have a huge army of supporters in Manchester.

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And with Volkanovski known to be considering a big-money lightweight fight while he waits for another shot at the featherweight title, Pimblett wouldn’t say no.

The 29-year-old never turns down a scrap. But it’s clear he doesn’t truly want to fight Volk.

“Whoever gets put on a contract that gets sent to me, I fight,” Pimblett told this masthead when asked about fighting Volkanovski. “I wanted to fight Renato Moicano this weekend, but Bobby Green got put on the contract, so I signed it.

“I’m a fighter. I’m never gonna turn a fight down and I never will.

“But I respect Alexander Volkanovski so much.”

Pimblett (R) fights King Green at UFC 304 this weekend. Picture: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Pimblett even revealed his pain at Volkanovski’s current two-fight losing streak.

The Aussie was stopped by Islam Makhachev after taking a lightweight title fight on just 11 days’ notice in October. He then lost his featherweight belt to Ilia Topuria in February.

“I hated seeing him get knocked out like that,” Pimblett said. “He shouldn’t have fought Topuria so soon.

“If he has another two months, or three months, and then fights Topuria, he doesn’t get knocked out with that shot.

“He wasn’t fully recovered, his brain wasn’t fully recovered.

“He should sit out and wait and fight for the featherweight title again. He’s one of the best in the world.

“I really rate Volkanovski, I love that he takes fights on short notice and schooled a lot of people at featherweight and made people look stupid.

“People need to put a lot more respect on his name.”

Alex Volkanovski (L) lost his featherweight title to Ilia Topuria in February. Picture: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Volkanovski is in Manchester this week, but rather than attempting to set up a fight, Pimblett says he just wants to meet him, as well as another Australian UFC icon.

“Is he here?” he asks when this masthead tells him Volk’s in town. “I hope I get to meet him, lad!

“There’s another Aussie I really want to meet too – Robert Whittaker.

“Robert Whittaker is a legend. He’s one of the coolest men in MMA. I swear to God, if you don’t like Robert Whittaker, I don’t like you!”