Tom Aspinall on Michael Chandler v Paddy Pimblett and the rise of UK MMA

Interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall believes Paddy Pimblett can become only the second fighter in the UFC to knock Michael Chandler out ahead of The Baddy's biggest fight of his career.

Pimblett is undefeated in his six UFC fights, cracking the top 15 after his win over King Green last time out, and may only be two fights away from becoming the sixth English fighter to compete for a UFC title.

Pimblett's opponent Chandler spent two years out of the Octagon waiting for a fight with Conor McGregor that never materialised, returning against Charles Oliveira. Iron was beaten by the Brazilian, losing via unanimous decision, and Aspinall believes there’s little for his fellow countryman to fear in their upcoming bout at UFC 314 in April.

“I like the match-up,” said Aspinall to Adam Catterall on One On One. “I was there for Charles Oliveira and Mike Chandler and got the pleasure of watching them both up close.

“Watching it on the TV and watching when you’re 10 feet away is two completely different things. Granted, Chandler had been out of the Octagon a little while at the time so he might have been a bit rusty and he was fighting Charles Oliveira, but I didn’t rate him. I thought he looked off.

“He wasn’t as good as I thought he was watching on the TV. I love watching him fight, but I think Paddy’s got a chance against him.

“It’s a big fight for Paddy. Paddy definitely does not crack under pressure – which a lot of people do in these big fights. He’s very awkward, a lot bigger than him. Chandler is a veteran, very athletic and has a lot of power so he can definitely land one, but I think Paddy’s chances are solid.

“Paddy is very comfortable on his back. Excellent submissions – triangles, armbars, omoplatas, and that’s quite rare in MMA – so he just throws the kicks up with no regard if his leg gets caught and tripped off balance or not because he’s very happy on his back.

“The mental side is his biggest advantage because he knows who he is, he knows what he’s all about, he knows he’s not going to crumble under pressure. His striking isn’t the prettiest and most traditional, but it’s effective.

“We see it with guys like DDP [Dricus du Plessis], that awkwardness causes people a lot of problems. I think Paddy’s striking is underrated and I think he can knock him out.”

Should Pimblett get his hand raised at UFC 314, he could be fighting for a title in the next 12 months, and Aspinall believes it's evidence of how far the UK MMA scene has come.

“It’s changed massively,” said Aspinall. “I went to a local show a couple of weeks ago – I’ve not been to a local show for a long time – pre-UFC for me – and two young girls were fighting on it, probably early-20s, late teens, amateur girls, and the skills they had, it was UFC-level skills and they probably had five fights between them.

“When I was on the local scene myself, women just didn’t do MMA. A woman’s fight you’d see once every blue moon. But I was so impressed. Even the lads on there, the early-level pros, it’s night-and-day the difference than the last time I went to a local show.

“We did have guys before Bisping, but Bisping is like the Godfather of UK MMA when it comes to the levels he’s at – he’s the guy I looked up to: ‘if he’s doing it, why can’t I do it?’

It's hard to deny the impact Bisping had on the next generation of British MMA fighters, including champions Leon Edwards and Aspinall himself, as well as the likes of Darren Till, Arnold Allen and Pimblett, and Aspinall now believes the sport is here to stay.

“[Bisping's] from 20 minutes down the road from me," said Aspinall. "Even now, fair enough I’m not as tuned into the local scene as I used to be, but I’ve seen people on the UFC getting signed and I don’t even recognise the name, and that’s not a knock on them, it’s just there are so many good UK MMA fighters now that people getting signed to the UFC and I’ve never heard of them or seen them fight.

“I think people who have been involved in MMA for a long time appreciate what we’ve got but these newer fans don’t realise the level we have over here now. And we don’t have to leave – that’s another thing, it was always ‘you can’t make it if you’re in the UK, you’ve got to go to America and train, you’ve got to go to Brazil and train’, now there’s a million different gyms you can rock up at and there’s so much knowledge you can soak in without leaving your country, which is unbelievable.”

Liam Williams

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