Paddy Pimblett has no shortage of fighters wanting to share the Octagon with him, but a new name has emerged who would love to test his skills against “The Baddy,” but his pitch comes from a different place to many of those that preceded it.
While many fighters seem to have taken offence to Pimblett’s stardom since his arrival in the UFC, and want to steal some of his shine, Hooper is just fascinated to test his own grappling skills against a fighter whose own jiu-jitsu chops have seen him pick up a string of notable victories inside the Octagon.
Hooper is keen to move his way up the UFC’s lightweight ladder gradually, and admits that he’s not ready for the very top of the 155-pound tree right now, but he’d love the chance to test himself against Pimblett, who recently earned a spot in the official UFC lightweight rankings with his first-round submission finish of King Green at UFC 304 in Manchester.
“Now, I’m not so scared of all these names,” Hooper told RG.org.
“There are some scary names up there. There are some guys that are dangerous. But I know I can hang with these guys.
“Obviously, I don’t think I’m ready for Islam (Makhachev) next week. But I’m working my way up the division and I’m stacking that resume up.
“I would love to grapple with (Pimblett) and see how good he is.
“Obviously, you see he’s got a weird style. He’s not the best striker, he’s not the best wrestler, but he has some really solid jiu-jitsu. And look where it’s getting him.”
Hooper started out in the UFC as a fresh-faced 20-year-old featherweight prospect. But, after six bouts at 145 pounds, and with his body growing into his six-foot, one-inch frame, “The Dream” moved up to 155 pounds and has looked outstanding.
Three fights, three wins, and back-to-back submission finishes in his last two outings have shown that Hooper is now a very different proposition from the one who stepped into the Octagon back in 2019. Now he’s happy he can finally start to shift that “young prospect” tag and prove to the world that he can be a real factor at 155 pounds.
“For the most part, the only time that the fans see you is when you’re in the cage fighting; 15, 20 minutes at a time. They hold on to that image of you,” Hooper said.
“But honestly, I don’t mind that much. It’s still good to be the young fighter. If nobody cares who you are, that’s probably the worst spot to be in in this sport … I think I just had to shake that label off, at least in my own head.”
