Renato Carneiro believes Paddy Pimblett is deserving of at least “some respect.”
Carneiro is slated to headline UFC Fight Night 243 against Frenchman Benoit St. Denis at the Accor Arena in Paris on Saturday. The Brazilian recently revealed that the two most prominent potential opponents in his mind going forward are Pimblett and Dan Hooker.
Pimblett has consistently expressed interest in fighting “Moicano,” regardless of the outcome the latter’s clash against St. Denis. Meanwhile, Carneiro first called out Hooker after “The Hangman” and Israel Adesanya picked Jalin Turner to beat “Moicano” at UFC 300. Carneiro made “The Tarantula” pay for a failed walk-off KO attempt, coming from behind to submit him in the second stanza.
While Hooker had agreed to fight Carneiro, the Kiwi ended up fighting Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 305 this past August, earning an upset split-decision win. However, Carneiro didn’t see Hooker winning that fight. “Moicano” is more impressed by Pimblett’s latest submission win over Bobby Green at UFC 304 this past July.
“I am very impressed. I think after the Bobby Green fight, Paddy Pimblett is a tougher matchup than Dan Hooker,” Carneiro told MMAFighting.com. “Back in the day, I would be crazy to say that, but right now, we saw what Dan Hooker did to Mateusz Gamrot. He got caught many, many times in the first round. And it was a close fight. I don’t think he did win, but if you see the way Paddy Pimblett finished Bobby Green, and Bobby Green is not an easy guy to submit. And the way he did so, props to Paddy Pimblett. I was one of the doubters. But he did great, he did a great job against Bobby Green. And he deserves some respect. Not much, but some respect.”
