Comparing Paddy Pimblett's UFC Rise to Conor McGregor's

Paddy Pimblett is, without question, one of the fastest-rising stars in the UFC right now.

The English lightweight has won his first three fights in the Octagon, finishing Luigi Vendramini, Rodrigo Vargas and Jordan Leavitt. And even more importantly, he has captured the attention of fans with his unique personality and gift of gab.

Given all of that, it's really no surprise that he is already being compared to former two-division champion Conor McGregor who, despite a slew of recent losses, remains the biggest star in the company's history.

But are those comparisons valid? Can Pimblett live up to the lofty standard McGregor set inside the Octagon and captivate the world the way the Irish superstar did outside it?

As the enigmatic Brit gears up for a fight with Jared Gordon at UFC 282 on Saturday—easily the toughest test of his UFC career so far—we decided to compare the two European MMA stars and try to decide for ourselves.

Keep scrolling for our take.

Conor McGregor has been behind some of the most memorable lines in UFC history.

There was "we're not here to take part, we're here to take over" after he knocked out Diego Brandao in Dublin in 2014. There was "who the f--k is that guy"—a brutal line directed at Jeremy Stephens at the UFC 205 pre-fight press conference in 2016, which was made all the better by the fact that it was clearly not rehearsed ahead of time.

At the height of his power, the Irishman was as famous for his skill on the mic as he was for his slick striking and thunderous knockout power. He was an expert at engaging with fans and getting into his opponent's heads.

But what about Pimblett?

Pimblett is only three fights into his UFC career, so he's had less time to show us what he's got on the mic, but he's been very entertaining so far.

Who could forget the time he said that Scousers—regional slang for people from Liverpool—can't be knocked out after he got stung in his win over Vendramini? That was a hilarious line, and actually a pretty good indicator of where Pimblett's mic skill diverges from McGregor's.

While McGregor was all about bravado and trash talk, Pimblett is definitely more deprecating, leaning on humour instead of hubris. And people seem to love it.

At this point, it's difficult to say who's better on the mic, but we can safely say any comparisons being drawn between them in this department are justified.

Pimblett has looked great in his first three fights in the UFC, finishing all of them inside two rounds. He was also impressive before he arrived to the Octagon, winning gold in respected European promotion Cage Warriors.

But it's much too early to compare him to McGregor in terms of fighting ability.

Contrary to his recent losses to Dustin Poirier and Khabib Nurmagomedov, McGregor was once considered one of the greatest fighters on the planet. Let's not forget this is the man who knocked out Jose Aldo—one of the greats himself—in just 13 seconds and absolutely styled on Eddie Alvarez when "The Underground King" was at the height of his ability.

As for their skills on paper, McGregor is clearly better on the feet. Pimblett packs a wallop, but he's reckless and unrefined as a striker and could end up paying the price as a result. On the flip side, he has proved that he's definitely a better submission fighter than McGregor, tallying nine wins by tap or nap to McGregor's one submission victory.

Time will tell if Pimblett can emulate McGregor's mammoth achievements inside the Octagon, but his fight with Gordon at UFC 282 this weekend should give us a good sense.

As we've already covered, Pimblett is just three fights into his UFC career, so he clearly hasn't fought the same level of opposition as McGregor, a two-division champion and pay-per-view superstar.

So if we're going to make a fair comparison, it's better to compare Pimblett's first three UFC fights to McGregor's first three.

Pimblett has stopped three good-but-not-great fighters who had a combined record of 31-7 entering the fights.

McGregor's first three Octagon wins came against Marcus Brimage, Max Holloway and Diego Brandao. He knocked out Brimage and Brandao and defeated Holloway by decision. Those three fighters had a combined record of 31-13 prior to facing McGregor.

At a glance, that makes it look like he was facing weaker opposition than Pimblett, but Brandao was a recent runner-up on the Ultimate Fighter at the time and still quite highly regarded, while Holloway went on to become one of the greatest featherweights of all time. The numbers don't tell the full story.

As for their fourth fights, Pimblett is set to fight Gordon (19-5), while McGregor took on Dustin Poirier, who was 16-3 at the time. With full respect to Gordon, Poirier was definitely a tougher test—even if he was still a little green at the time.

All this to say, Pimblett and McGregor faced a similar quality over the course of their first few fights in the UFC, but you've got to give a slight edge to the Irishman.

It's abundantly clear that Pimblett has the potential to become a big star for the UFC. But that's been true for many other fighters in recent years, and none of come close to touching McGregor's level of celebrity.

Sean O'Malley is a great example of this. The bantamweight knockout artist is a huge asset for the UFC, but his star still looks dim when compared to McGregor, who transcended the sport of MMA in a way that only Ronda Rousey had before him.

It's impossible to say if Pimblett can reach McGregor levels. He's on the right track but also seems to be rising more slowly than the Irishman was. Case in point: McGregor was headlining cards by his third fight in the UFC. Pimblett is just about to partake in his fourth fight with the promotion and is still only the co-main event. That's definitely a nice feather in his cap regardless, but the takeaway again is that nobody has risen to stardom as quickly as McGregor. Nobody.

Maybe Pimblett can become the UFC's next superstar. As for his becoming The Next Conor McGregor? It seems unlikely that anybody will ever be able to.

Say what you will about the Irishman in the year 2022, but his rise to worldwide fame via the UFC is unlikely to be replicated.