Rising UFC star Pimblett issues Khabib jibe

Russian legend Nurmagomedov was occasionally the target of criticism for his wrestling-heavy approach to fights throughout his career, but his final career performances against the likes of Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje were among the most memorable fights in recent UFC history.

Pimblett, though, does have a knack for dramatic fights. Predominantly thought of as a striker recently, the Liverpudlian boasts two flying triangle submissions on his record and has finished 14 of his career wins inside the distance, stats which suggest that he is far more well-rounded than some of his critics may give him credit for.

Speaking further about his performance last weekend, Pimblett admitted that he feared becoming the butt of internet jokes when the initial stages of the fight didn’t exactly go his way.

“As soon as he hit me with that punch and ended up top, I was like ‘oh you’re gonna make yourself look like a proper mushroom now, you need to sort this out kid’. When you talk a big game like this, you can easily become an internet meme,“ he told the media after the fight.