Following his win over Bobby Green at UFC 304, Paddy Pimblett is now targeting Renato “Moicano” Carneiro next.
Pimblett (22-3) choked out Green (32-16-1, 1 draw, 1 no-count) in the opening lightweight bout in front of a home crowd in Manchester, England. When given the chance to name someone in his post-fight Octagon interview, the Liverpudlian quickly put forward a name: Moicano. Pimblett is hopeful that if he beats the fighter he calls “Money,” who faces Benoit St. Denis at UFC Paris in September, he could face the Brazilian by the end of the year or early next year.
“There’s a name that everyone wants me to face: Renato Moicano,” Pimblett said. “I hope he makes it through.” [Benoit St.
Denis]We will see if we can get it installed by the end of the year or the new year.”
Pimbret and Carneiro have been teasing a bout for some time, with the Brit making the initial call, but Carneiro didn’t mention Pimbret by name when calling out his opponent following his knockout win over Jalin Turner at UFC 300.
Recently, both Carneiro and Pimblett verbally agreed to fight at UFC 304, but ultimately faced different opponents. Pimblett revealed that he was originally planning to fight Carneiro in Manchester before the fight with Green was announced. With a chance to leapfrog him up the UFC rankings with a win over Green, Pimblett sees Carneiro, ranked #10 by UFC, as the favored opportunity.
“The funny thing is, to be honest, before this fight with Bobby Green was decided, me and Renato were talking about each other on Twitter and stuff. He said, ‘I’ll fight Paddy’ and I said I’ll fight Renato. So, to be honest, I thought I was going to fight Renato. Of course, it’s better to jump to 10th in the rankings straight away than to jump to 15th,” the Briton concluded.
