Paddy Pimblett Passes Another Test on the Road to Stardom with Win at UFC 314

At this point, even the most steadfast Paddy Pimblett haters have to admit he's the real deal. After a lopsided stoppage win over Michael Chandler, he is simply undeniable.

Pimblett took on Chandler in the co-main event of Saturday's stacked UFC 314 main card in Miami, Florida. The Brit had a lot of momentum behind him, with victories in his first six Octagon appearances. However, he was widely expected to have some difficulty with Chandler, a former Bellator champ and the UFC's No. 7-ranked lightweight contender.

In the end, he barely broke a sweat.

As expected, the fight got off to a fast start. Pimblett, a former Cage Warriors champ in his native England, looked to soften Chandler with kicks, while Chandler returned fire with his patented power punches. Neither man landed anything especially significant in the first round, but it seemed to go Pimblett's way.

The Brit took things up a notch in round two. Early in the round, commentator Daniel Cormier was admiring how much the rising contender's striking has improved. Soon thereafter, Pimblett turned to his grappling — his bread and butter — which he used to control Chandler on the mat and threaten with submissions. He was dominant enough in this phase of the fight that Cormier was already writing Chandler's eulogy.

"Survive the round if you’re Michael Chandler," Cormier said. “Pimblett is visibly dominating Michael Chandler at a rate that I never thought was possible... “Paddy is good, man. Mike’s going to have to change something.”

Unfortunately for Chandler, there would be no opportunity to adjust the strategy. Emboldened by his success in the second, Pimblett came out guns blazing in the third. First, he rocked Chandler with a brilliantly timed flying knee, which also busted the American's face open.

A bloodied Chandler briefly returned fire, but Pimblett soon slammed him to the mat, where he began to unleash a torrent of vicious ground and pound. The former Bellator champ tried to hang in there, but there was only so much referee Kerry Hatley could allow, and at the 3:07 mark, the fight was waved off.

The crowd inside the host Kasey Center was deafening, even though Pimblett was technically the visiting team.

The TKO victory pushed Pimblett to a very impressive 22-3 overall, and 7-0 in the UFC. It was far and away the most impressive achievement of his career to date, and it will send him crashing in the crowded lightweight top-10.

"This is how we win," Pimblett said in his post-fight interview with commentator Joe Rogan. "We game plan. We use our fight IQ, and we beat motherf--ers up.

"Anyone else got any questions?"

In fact, there is one glaring question with respect to Pimblett at the moment. Who's next?

The Brit, who is fast becoming one of the most popular fighters on the roster, certainly has options. If gets his way, it will be either Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, or Charles Oliveira next — though the latter seems like his No. 1 choice.

"Anyone in the top 4, top 5," he said as the crowd continued to cheer him on.

"Dustin, Justin, Charles," he added. "[Oliveira] gets called the best submission artist the UFC’s ever seen. I dispute that."

No. 1-ranked contender Arman Tsarukyan, who was slated to fight Islam Makhachev for the title earlier this year but withdrew at the last moment, is also an option for Pimblett. However, the Brit has made no secret of his disdain for the top contender, and didn't seem thrilled about that idea.

"F-k Arman, he’s a sausage," he said.

One way or the other, Pimblett made his ultimate goal clear.

"I want that world title," he told Rogan.

Time will tell if Pimblett can achieve that feat. Russia's Islam Makhachev is not only the lightweight champion, but the sport's top pound-for-pound fighter, and looks increasingly unbeatable every time he fights. It will be a massive challenge for Pimblett to dethrone him.

However, after his dominant win over Chandler, it is not as outrageous a possibility as most fans and pundits previously thought.

"Paddy Pimblett is animal," a gobsmacked Rogan said shortly after the fight concluded. "He’s that good."

“He’s way better than we thought," an equally astounded Cormier echoed. “I figured he could win, but not like this. We’ve never seen anyone beat up Michael Chandler like this.”