Paddy Pimblett is positioning himself as a rising star hungry for the biggest challenges in UFC. By calling for a fight with Conor McGregor at welterweight, he's demonstrating the kind of championship mentality that makes him a future contender worth watching.
Sources close to UFC say there's already tension between The Baddy and certain members of McGregor's camp. One insider tells us Paddy has been dropping hints about wanting Mystic Mac for months, but this is the first time he's gone public with his demand.
Paddy Pimblett was confirmed as co-main event for UFC 329 on July 4, 2026. McGregor's return fight will mark his first major bout in over a year following injury recovery. The TMZ interview where Pimblett made his demands took place ahead of his own scheduled bout at the same event.
Pimblett's demand shows he's got eyes on the prize—and the paycheck—regardless of what McGregor thinks about it. Whether this is strategic positioning or genuine ambition, The Baddy just made himself impossible to ignore.
Well, well, well. Paddy Pimblett isn't content being a footnote in Conor McGregor's comeback story. TMZ Sports caught up with The Baddy ahead of UFC 329, and let's just say he's got his sights set on something bigger than the co-main event slot he was handed.
Pimblett made it crystal clear to our cameras: he's not satisfied with merely sharing a card with McGregor's return from injury. No, the Liverpool-native wants a piece of Mystic Mac himself—and specifically at welterweight. "I want a piece of him," Pimblett told TMZ Sports, leaving zero room for interpretation.
The audacity? The ambition? You love to see it.
For those keeping score at home, McGregor has been on the shelf nursing injuries that kept him out of action for over a year. His return at UFC 329 was supposed to be the main event spectacle, with Pimblett doing the dirty work as co-main attraction. But The Baddy apparently didn't get the memo about being background noise in someone else's redemption arc.
The fight math here is interesting, too. McGregor has competed across multiple weight classes throughout his legendary career, but welterweight represents a space where both men could theoretically meet if UFC brass ever got creative with matchmaking—which, let's be real, they absolutely would for the payday this fight would generate. Pimblett's willingness to call his shot at that particular division suggests he's been thinking about this matchup for a while.
Of course, whether McGregor or his team will even acknowledge this challenge is another story entirely. The Notorious One has bigger fish frying with his own return bout, and responding to every up-and-comer who calls his name would be a full-time job. But you can bet UFC matchmakers are taking notes—Pimblett just put himself on the shortlist of potential opponents for McGregor down the line.
