Beneil Dariush: Paddy Pimblett still 'needs a lot of work', but he will be 'a good fight' for Tony Ferguson

30/11/2023 20:00

More than a few eyebrows raised when the UFC announced that former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson would face rising star Paddy Pimblett in his return to action.

Once considered a top contender in the division, Ferguson has struggled lately while dropping six fights in a row, including four of those by knockout or submission. Meanwhile, Pimblett received a massive push from the UFC thanks to his growing popularity, but despite four wins in the octagon, he's faced some criticism that he's far from a polished product regardless of the attention he's receiving.

In his most recent outing, Pimblett squeaked by with a controversial decision win despite many believing his opponent Jared Gordon deserved the nod.

Beneil Dariush, who headlines UFC Austin on Saturday in a fight against Arman Tsarukyan, was among those who was surprised when the matchup was announced but over time he came to like the matchup, especially where his former foe Ferguson was concerned.

"Honestly, it was definitely a surprise when I first saw it, but what can you do?" Dariush told MMA Fighting. "I mean if you stay in the game long enough, the old lions are going to get eaten by new lions. That's just the way the game is.

"Tony doesn't seem like he wants to quit any time soon. You can't really blame the UFC like [saying] 'you guys are just trying to hurt Tony.' But Tony has been fighting nothing but top contenders and now they're like we'll have you fight someone outside the top, but who's still pretty popular. If anything, I think this is a good fight for Tony."

During that six-fight losing skid, Ferguson faced four opponents who have either held UFC gold or fought for a UFC title with the two other defeats coming to fighters currently ranked in the top 15 by the promotion — including his loss to Dariush back in 2021.

That's a murderers' row of talent to go up against, especially in those repeated attempts to get back on track with a win.

Meanwhile, Dariush can't say what the ceiling will be for Pimblett just four fights into his UFC career, but he knows the Liverpool native still needs to develop a lot of skills if he wants to deal with the best fighters in the world in the lightweight division.

"As far as talent, if you look at me at the beginning of my career, I was not anywhere near where I am now," Dariush said comparing himself to Pimblett. "It could be the same thing with Paddy.

"His growth could be exponential and he could become a champion one day. At the moment, I just think he needs a lot of work."

That all adds up to a beatable opponent for a veteran like Ferguson, which is why Dariush believes the UFC"s matchmaking was actually pretty spot on when putting this fight together.

"I think it's going to be a little bit of that [dog fight]," Dariush said. "I think Tony can definitely end up pushing Paddy more than he'd expect."