Paddy Pimblett reveals ideal opponents for next UFC fight

If Paddy Pimblett has his way, his next fight in the UFC will be against Renato Moicano or Dan Hooker.

The Englishman Pimblett was one of the fastest rising stars in MMA for a long time, but it was only with his last fight that he finally established himself as a serious challenger in the fully occupied lightweight division of the UFC.

His last appearance in the Octagon was at UFC 304 in Manchester in July, when he defeated veteran lightweight boxer Bobby Green via first-round rear-naked choke. Since that incredible performance, fans have been wondering who he will fight next, and in a recent interview with Action Network, he made his choice clear.

His first choice, he explained, was the Brazilian Moicano.

“Now I want to fight Renato Moicano,” Pimblett said. “He wants to fight me. I want to fight him. I think it would be an entertaining fight for everyone involved. We would end up having a good fight.”

“If it were up to me, it would be Moicano. It's a good fight,” he added. “I thought last week the perfect path to the title would have been Moicano and then Charles Oliveira.”

Unfortunately for Pimblett, Moicano will face Benoit Saint-Denis in the main event of the UFC's return to Paris on September 28, so the Brit will likely have to fight someone else unless he wants to wait months for Moicano to recover from the injuries he sustained in the Saint-Denis fight.

Fortunately, Pimblett has another option in mind: Hooker from New Zealand.

“If I'm offered Dan Hooker, I'll take it,” he said. “I'll move up to fifth place right away and then it'll probably be a title eliminator next.”

“I'm up for any of them. Like I said, any name is sent to me, that's fine. I'm not afraid to fight anyone.”

Following his win over Green, Pimblett is 6-0 in the UFC with four wins. The other major highlight of his Octagon career was a decision win over former interim champion Tony Ferguson late last year. He is currently ranked 15th in his weight class.

Moicano, a former featherweight, has a 6-2 record since moving up to lightweight. His best wins in the division have come against Jalin Turner, Drew Dober and Brad Riddell, while he has lost to top contenders such as Rafael dos Anjos and Rafael Fiziev. He is currently ranked 11th in the lightweight division.

A fixture in the top 15 lightweight division, Hooker is currently on a three-fight winning streak, with his most recent victory coming earlier this month at UFC 305, when he pulled off a major upset with a decision victory over former two-weight KSW champion Mateusz Gamrot. That win, which followed losses to Claudio Puelles and Turner, earned him the No. 5 spot in the lightweight rankings.