Paddy Pimblett will step back into the UFC’s octagon in July, and a training partner of his has weighed in on Pimblett’s return fight after falling short in capturing UFC interim gold in January. The referenced fighter is Alfie Davis, and the former PFL title challenger will throw down in a rematch with Alexander Shabliy at PFL San Diego on June 27th.
Davis has a history of training with Paddy Pimblett, with Davis’ prior Bowks Talking Bouts appearance touching on his work with ‘The Baddy’ ahead of his aforementioned 155 pound title fight at UFC 324 vs. Justin Gaethje whereby Gaethje eventually unified the lightweight belt by beating Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250 earlier this month. When asking for his thoughts on Pimblett versus Benoit Saint-Denis fight coming up at UFC 329, Davis said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“It’s a tough fight, man. That Benoit Saint-Denis like what he did to Mauricio Ruffy and just his performance in general, man, he looks like a tough, tough cookie. So yeah, to be honest with you, I think it’s a tough fight for Paddy. In saying that, I think that Paddy has got, still to this day even after fighting for the title, has an underestimated skill set. I don’t think people understand just how good he is on the floor.”
“Also arguably how; like his striking that last out in it, it didn’t really, really get [to] pay dividends for his striking because he looked very sloppy. No disrespect, but I felt he looked sloppy in it. But that was because he was fighting. He had to fight like that. He can be actually quite crafty on the feet. So yeah, I think it’s a tough fight for Paddy, but I think he can do it.”
Paddy Pimblett wasn’t beneficial to spar ahead of PFL San Diego, according to Alfie Davis
When PFL San Diego’s Alfie Davis was asked if he was able to get in work with Paddy Pimblett as both prepare for big summer-time bouts, Davis responded [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“No, actually I’ve not been sparring Paddy [Pimblett]. He is from a different team and they’re in Liverpool and I’m in London, so it’s about 3 hours away. Also just in terms of like fight styles, I mean he’s fighting a Southpaw. So it’s not always; it wouldn’t be that beneficial to spar me, although I do play Southpaw sometimes. His skill set wouldn’t be that beneficial for [Alexander] Shabliy to be honest with you.”
“Because Shabliy is more of a crafty boxer and does choose to grapple a bit. But he wouldn’t be having the same game plan that Paddy would be trying to implement. Although just sometimes sparring really skilled guys is good. But yeah, this camp, no. I’ve not been sparring him.”