‘The Baddy’ is heading into his second fight as a father this weekend at the Kaseya Center in Miami.
Paddy Pimblett has come a long way during his MMA career having made his pro debut all the way back in 2012 when he was just 17-years-old.
During his rise to stardom, the UFC lightweight contender turned the UFC down on multiple occasions before Pimblett went on to become one of the biggest names on the roster.
He’s now set for the most high profile fight of his career to date when Pimblett crosses paths with Michael Chandler in the co-main event of UFC 314 on April 12.
At the same time as his climb up the 155-pound ladder, a major change to his life happened last year when the 30-year-old and his wife welcomed twin daughters and he believes that this has only made him an even better mixed martial artist.
Paddy Pimblett says that having children has made him work harder and rely on his talent less
Paddy Pimblett’s wife gave birth to twin daughters, Betsy and Margot Pimblett, in April last year before he made his return to the Octagon the following July.
‘The Baddy’ has always had critics throughout his career and this only increased once he arrived in the UFC and started to become a global star.
Some questioned his ability to compete at the highest level with claims that he was being given an easier route to the top than others because of his popularity.
His submission win over King Green in the first round at UFC 304 showed that Pimblett was exceeding a lot of the expectations that people had for him and he believes that this is partly down to becoming a father.
During the first episode of the UFC 314 Embedded series, the Brit spoke about how supporting two daughters has made him a better fighter.
He stated that having his children as motivation has forced him to work harder when he may have banked on his natural ability to achieve success at points in the past.
“It’s changed my life in every way possible to be honest… I’m up early everyday. I’ve got to put these to bed, every night. To be fair, Laura does most of it, like Laura picks up a lot of the slack. It makes me train harder, you know what I mean?
“You feel like you want to quit, you just think of these cause I’m putting food on the table for these so I’ve trained a lot harder than I used to. I used to take a lot of stuff for granted. I used to rely on my talent but as the saying goes, hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard so I think that’s why people have seen a lot of improvements in me.”
Some fans will still downplay Paddy Pimblett’s accomplishments if he wins at UFC 314
Paddy Pimblett has been frustrated in the past about the fact that after he beats an opponent who many believe will be the one to end his undefeated streak inside the Octagon, the win is immediately discredited.
On one hand, the likes of Tony Ferguson and King Green no longer represent the pinnacle of the lightweight division but it’s not uncommon for established veterans to be put against rising stars to try and test them.
At 38-years-old, Michael Chandler is coming towards the end of his career and he has suffered back-to-back losses in his latest outings.
Chandler has also only ever been defeated inside the Octagon by lightweights who have held a version of lightweight gold in their careers so whilst ‘Iron’ Mike might not be the prime contender that he once was, he’s still competing against the very best.
