Paddy Pimblett thinks Bobby Green is 'a bit overweight'

Paddy Pimblett believes Bobby Green will never fully recover from his controversial stoppage loss to Jarin Turner in December and believes that will ultimately work in his favour at UFC 304.

Green was the victim of multiple unnecessary blows that left him unconscious during a careless late stoppage by referee Kelly Hatley in his bout against Turner at UFC on ESPN 52, but he defeated Jim Miller by unanimous decision just a few months later at UFC 300 to advance to a showdown with Pimblett on July 27 at RAC Arena in Manchester, England (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).

Pimblett (21-3 MMA, 5-0 UFC) vividly remembers watching Green (32-15-1 MMA, 13-10-1 UFC) get pummeled by Turner live. He hates stoppages as much as anyone and, after studying Green ahead of UFC 304, concluded the outcome of the bout had done irreparable damage to Green's durability.

“I was watching the fight with Jarrin in this room (where this interview is being conducted) with my friend Blaydes,” Pimbret told MMA Junkie. “We were both like, 'Stop the fight, stop the fight.' As much as he was talking bad about me the week of the fight, I remember turning to my buddy Blaydes and saying, 'I know he was talking bad about me, but that's really bad. How could the ref let that happen?'”

“I still think it's affecting me. I took a couple punches against Jim Miller and I looked a little bit (wobbled) in the first round. I thought Jim hurt me a little bit. Jim won the first round against Bobby, so I think my chin is a little weak right now. And it's not going to work against Jarin Turner either. I got knocked out by Drew Dober a few months before that. I've been knocked out a few times, but that Jarin Turner fight, after something like that, your chin never grows back.”

Full Interview

Pimbret, 29, made waves recently when he proposed a grappling-heavy bout at UFC 304, despite seeing an intriguing target in Green.

Green had previously stated that he didn't think Pimblett could submit him, and the Briton responded by challenging his opponent to take him on the mat, resulting in backlash from fans who suggested Pimblett was hesitant to fight Green, but Pimblett said that wasn't true at all.

But Pimblett isn't worried about the fan reaction and says he's determined to beat Green by any means necessary when UFC 304 takes place.

“I just said, 'You say I can't submit you, then come grapple me,'” Pimblett said. “I'm not saying I won't get in a fight with him. I'm going to get in a fight. I'm going to come out and try to take his head off his shoulders. If he says I can't submit him and he can grapple me, then go for it. He put a picture of his brown belt on his (Instagram) story and was like, oh my God, I got my brown belt when I was 21.”

“It's crazy. But I can't say anything. Anything I say gets twisted and made to sound like I said something else, or people just jump on the hate wave. It's cool to hate 'Paddy the Buddy' now.”

For more on the card, check out MMA Junkie's UFC 304 event hub.