Pimblett will take on former three-time Bellator lightweight world champion Michael Chandler in the co-main event of UFC 314, which takes place on April 12 in Miami, Florida.
It’s a huge matchup that ends weeks of back-and-forth comments over social media as both fighters, relatively respectfully, hinted at a possible matchup.
Now that bout is official, with the pair set to throw down in a five-round co-main event at the Kaseya Center on April 12.
Chandler will be looking at the bout to reverse a patchy run of form since joining the UFC. The crowd-pleasing American has gone all-out to deliver fan-friendly fights since arriving on the sport’s biggest stage, but that desire to live by the sword has seen him metaphorically die by the sword, too. Four of his last five fights in the Octagon have ended in defeat.
Prior to his arrival in the UFC, Chandler was one of the biggest stars for the rival Bellator MMA promotion. He captured the 155-pound title three times, and was a poster boy for the promotion, with the former collegiate wrestling standout adding fight-ending knockout power to his arsenal and becoming one of Bellator’s most decorated champions.
Pimblett, meanwhile, has been climbing the lightweight ranks, and will head into his April 12 bout with Chandler on a red-hot eight-fight win streak.
Most recently, he proved to the world that his grappling was worthy of respect as he became the first fighter to submit King Green in the UFC at UFC 304.
While Chandler arrived in the UFC as a fully-formed contender, Pimblett has had to work his way up the ladder the old-fashioned way, by beating fellow prospects and facing an ever-increasing level of opposition on his way up the UFC’s 155-pound lightweight division.
Pimblett captured featherweight gold for Cage Warriors, and also challenged unsuccessfully for the promotion’s lightweight title. But, since making a permanent move to 155 pounds, Pimblett has made significant improvements from fight to fight as he’s worked his way up the lightweight ranks, and now stands as a legitimate threat to the division’s best.
The acid test will come on April 12, as Pimblett tests himself against a man who has been mixing it with the best in the world.
If Pimblett can add Chandler’s scalp to his list of victories, he could soon put himself in the frame for a possible shot at the UFC lightweight title currently held by Russia’s Islam Makhachev.
