Paddy Pimblett Details Incredible UFC 329 Submission: "I've Never Done That Before"

Jiu-Jitsu Federation: Paddy Pimblett surprised his corner and himself with the way he put Benoit Saint Denis to sleep at UFC 329.

"The Baddy" secured possibly the most impressive victory of his career on Saturday with a stunning D'Arce choke on Benoit Saint Denis that left the top-10 lightweight fighter sleeping just 52 seconds into the opening round. Known for his aggressive wrestling style, Saint Denis looked to overwhelm Pimblett with his grappling, but fell into the dangerous submission from the Scouser.

At the post-fight press conference, Pimblett explained how he executed a finish he had drilled specifically for Saint Denis.

"My corner was right in front of me," Pimblett said. "My head coach Paul, Ellis and Chris were all there and Paul literally said, 'Don't burn your arms', but I knew I had cinched it. I knew he was good at defending a guillotine, so we worked on other things around the guillotine and that was there, perfect in frame.

"It wasn't a true Peruvian neck tie, but I literally practiced a Peruvian neck tie for the first time in about 10 years about five weeks ago with my coach and it was like a mix between a D'Arce and Peruvian neck tie, but it's just how good my jiu-jitsu is. I can link things like that up perfectly."

Before facing Pimblett, Saint Denis had never been submitted before; ironically, this was the first time Pimblett actually attempted the finish, which utilized all of Pimblett's limbs and appeared to be a combination of signature moves.

"I've never done that before," Pimblett said. "No, I've never done that before. I just did that on the fly, that's how I work. My jiu-jitsu is the best in the world."

While Pimblett's status among the best grapplers in MMA is debatable, his star power is becoming undeniable. "The Baddy" was greeted with a raucous reception from fans in Las Vegas throughout fight week and his energetic walkout on Saturday had the vast majority of the crowd on their feet. The reaction didn't go unnoticed by UFC CEO Dana White, who was impressed with Pimblett's growing popularity, which has exploded even after he suffered his first loss to Justin Gaethje in an interim lightweight title fight at UFC 324 last month.

"He gained so much respect in that last fight," White said at the post-fight press conference. "My social team was telling me after that last loss he gained, like, two million followers on social media from that night to the next morning. The way he showed up today, it looked like he was the world champion. If you break down that fight, I felt Saint Denis' best chance to win that fight was to keep it on the feet and striking and then he just goes right into a takedown. Very, very odd, and what a nasty choke he put on him. It was incredible. Incredible performance for as short as it was."

Source: MMA Fighting — read the original