Paddy Pimblett rips Arman Tsarukyan’s wrestling performance at UFC 331

While Arman Tsarukyan made a statement in his recent bout, Paddy Pimblett wasn’t overly impressed.

Tsarukyan (24-3) further bolstered his case for a title shot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship with a knockout win over Mauricio Ruffy (14-3) in the co-main event of UFC 331 on Sept. 19 in Los Angeles. “The Batman” earned a Performance of the Night bonus and praise from Dana White, but Pimblett sees weaknesses he can exploit.

Ruffy visibly damaged Tsarukyan with a right hand early in the fight. Tsarukyan maintained his composure to recover and gradually started finding his wrestling range. The latter landed a vicious elbow from the clinch to put Ruffy’s lights out late in the first round.

Pimblett believes Ruffy was winning the bout until Tsarukyan found the finish. “The Baddy” wanted to see how the contest would’ve played out over five rounds if Tsarukyan hadn’t landed the fight-ending strike. He even noticed some holes in Tsarukyan’s game at UFC 331 and believes the Armenian overestimates his wrestling, considering he couldn’t take Ruffy down.

“As much as I don’t like it, that was a naughty elbow,” Pimblett said on his YouTube channel. “I think he looked pretty sh*t until that elbow. His eyes were messed up already. Wish he never landed that, just to see how the second and the third would have went… I think that showed holes in his game. His wrestling isn't as good as he thinks it is. His eye’s mashed up off that one right hand. I would have liked to see how that fight went on, ‘cause he couldn’t get Ruffy down.”

Pimblett, Tsarukyan and former champ Ilia Topuria are all gunning for UFC lightweight king Justin Gaethje. Pimblett and Topuria both lost to Gaethje and have campaigned for title rematches, while Tsarukyan cemented his status as the No.1 contender with his win over Ruffy.