UFC: Paddy Pimblett’s One Big Weakness

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With five straight Octagon victories in the UFC, Liverpool’s Paddy Pimblett has made himself a household name in the UK.

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While being a must-watch fighter for most fans, some stylistic flaws in his striking could see him punished sooner or later. As Pimblett slowly rises through the lightweight rankings, viewers have been privy to some of these flaws and nearly saw Pimblett KO’d in the process.

Let’s talk about some of these fundamental errors, how they’ve affected Pimblett, and how they could severely impact his fighting future if they carry on. (Disclaimer: This article isn’t intended to disparage Pimblett)

Paddy Pimblett’s Boxing Defense

Luigi Vendramini rocking Paddy Pimblett with a left hook

Paddy is a magnet for counter left hooks

Fans might have noticed from his fights with Luigi Vendramini and Jared Gordon that Pimblett gets touched by left hooks quite a lot. This is because of several fundamental issues with Pimblett’s guard and striking defense.

  • His hands don’t come back to his face after throwing a shot
  • His hands drop when throwing punches or kicks
  • His offense is usually uninformed
  • Paddy lunges with his punches, putting him extremely out of position
  • Paddy doesn’t tuck his chin; instead, he lifts his chin when attacking

Hands not coming back to the face

It’s a day-one mistake: You throw a punch and don’t bring your hand back to your face to guard your head. The natural instinct in the punching motion is to bring the elbow back to the body, but adjustments need to be made to defend against counterpunching.

UFC vs. PFL: What’s the Difference?

In all of Pimblett’s fights, he’s not only dropping his hands to strike, but they’re also not coming back to defend his chin. This has seen him countered by every opponent so far, and his deceptively good chin has carried him throughout. In addition to this, opponents are landing shots under Pimblett’s flared arms. See below (Figs. 1, 2, 3):

Pimblett, with a winged arm and exposed center line, throwing a jab at Jared Gordon. Whilst he does this, he leans forward and lifts his chin.
1 Pimblett, with a winged arm and exposed centre line, throwing a jab at Jared Gordon. Whilst he does this, he lunges forward and lifts his chin.
2 Gordon slips the jab and lands a clean bodyshot. Take note of Paddy's dropped arms.
2 Gordon slips the jab and lands a clean bodyshot. Take note of Paddy’s dropped guard.
3 Gordon follows up with a clean left hook, right around the loose guard of Pimblett. This happened 40 seconds into round 1.
3 Gordon follows up with a clean left hook, right around the loose guard of Pimblett. This happened 40 seconds into round 1.

This could be explained away as MMA, where a fighter needs a loose guard to protect their hips from takedowns. It’s why MMA fighters transitioning to boxing get beaten up by the likes of Jake Paul.

Still, this can be mitigated by maintaining good positioning and balance, which keeps your hips strong for the purpose of shrugging off takedown attempts. What Paddy does wrong is that he simultaneously drops his guard whilst also putting himself greatly out of position.

Throwing himself out of position

1 Literally 20 seconds after getting rocked with the first left hook, Pimblett lunges in with an wide left hook. Whilst he does this, his right hand drops by his belly, this hand is meant to be guarding his face!
1 20 seconds after getting rocked with the first left hook, Pimblett lunges in with a wide left hook. Whilst he does this, his right hand drops by his belly instead of protecting his face
2 Gordon tucks his chin and slips, eating the punch but taking the force out of the impact. He's able to throw up his own left hook in retaliation, and because Paddy wasn't guarding his face, it lands flush.
2 Gordon tucks his chin and slips, eating the punch but taking the force out of the impact. He throws his own left hook in retaliation, and because Paddy wasn’t guarding his face, it lands flush.

Is Paddy Pimblett the next big thing?

The more eyes on MMA, the higher the odds of it going mainstream. As an advocate for mental health, combatting body shaming, and generally being an open book, Pimblett is giving MMA a good reputation and swaying the public consensus of it being just another blood sport.

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Mathew Riddle
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