Paddy Pimblett continues to be a fan of Charles Oliveira, but was shocked by the way the former lightweight champion approached his fight with Ilia Topuria at UFC 317.
The match ended after Oliveira stepped into his pocket for an exchange when he dropped off the difficult right hook that effectively ended the Brazilian night, but he connected with the left hand behind it, sealing the deal. It’s not often that Topuria packed such combat finishing power, but Pimblett doesn’t know what strategy Oliveira is using.
“It might have been a bit different to what Charles thought he would take him to the next round,” Pinblett said. Our Poem Podcast. “I really like Charles, but what was the game plan?
“I want to know what their game plan is. It was half embarrassing, so where did the cut come from? Topria ended up on him, I was like “Oliveira’s cut.” Obviously, it would have gotten a bit of it in his eyes.
Early in the opening round, Oliveira was able to drag Topuria to the ground, but was short-lived as the former featherweight champion scrambled freely from a grappling exchange to return to his feet again.
Pimblett, the most perplexing of Oliveira’s game plan, was that he had not used any weapons available to him.
“The first 20 seconds he (kicked him) a little,” Pinblett said. “Teared him, Legg kicked him, I thought you knew you could be on a tough night for Toplia. Then Charles started swinging with him, but when he was out I said I went to Graham (Boylan) and was nervous.
Pinblet is certainly responsible, but Pinblet understands that Oliveira has gone through a lot of wars during his illustrious career, and that could have been involved in Topria’s knockout.
Pinblet promises that if he gets the next opportunity to face Topulia, that doesn’t apply to him.
“That’s what he’s doing, he’s doing a lot of damage,” Pinblett said of Oliveira. “I’ve never had that kind of battle. I want to go to war with someone, but I didn’t have it. I’ve never done lasting damage in my life. He didn’t knock me out.
Shortly after the UFC 317 main event ended, Pinblett was in the cage for a showdown with Toplia as his longtime rival began setting up a potential battle between them in the future.
Pinblet later revealed that he was currently weighing around 195 pounds, but he always knew that whenever he finally met he would become a much bigger fighter than Topria.
He hopes the benefits of size work well for him, and Pinblett expects Oliveira to approach Topuria with a completely different strategy than what Oliveira did last Saturday night.
“I said this before in some interviews, people think he just thinks he’s steaming me, but that’s different when there’s a big size difference,” Pinblett said. “People think I’m not good enough (opposed to him), but young people, he’s a little guy.
“That’s what I told him, I’ll finish you, a little boy. He’s much shorter than me, I’m much wider than him. That’s what plays a role. So people lose weight.”