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Paddy Pimblett sizes up his grappling against Charles Oliveira’s following UFC 326

Originally posted on HITC | By Jamie Theodosi | Last updated Mar 10, 2026 3:37 PM ET

Paddy Pimblett does not believe Charles Oliveira’s grappling skills are that much better than his own, despite what fans might think.

Last Saturday, ‘Do Bronx’ claimed the BMF belt from Max Holloway at UFC 326, controlling all five rounds of their main event bout.

Over the course of 25 minutes, he attempted four submissions – more than anyone had ever managed against Holloway before. Previously, only Dustin Poirier had even tried to submit ‘Blessed’.

While many see Oliveira as the top grappler in the UFC, Pimblett is not so sure. The lightweight contender recently compared his own ground game to that of the Brazilian.

Why Paddy Pimblett backs his grappling to stand up to Charles Oliveira’s

With the fight having big implications for the lightweight picture, ‘The Baddy’ was paying close attention to UFC 326, knowing that a match-up with either Holloway or Oliveira could be on the cards down the line.

The Brit did not disagree with the criticism from fans and addressed it on his YouTube channel: “I understand what people are saying, it’s not very BMF-like.

“That’s right, but at the same time, any way to win. I should’ve done more of this against Gaethje.”

Oliveira has racked up 17 submission wins during his UFC career. Still, Pimblett feels his own skills in that area are just as strong, if not better.

“I’d love to fight Charles though. Everyone goes on about his grappling, everyone thinks it’s levels above mine and I know it isn’t. If I fought Charles we’d probably end up having a war on the feet,” he said.

“I can understand why people are moaning about it, people saying in a BMF title fight, you expect more striking… One positive I’m taking from this is my fight (against Justin Gaethje) is definitely still Fight of the Year.”

Pimblett’s next opponent has not been confirmed yet, but names like Benoit Saint-Denis, Dan Hooker and now Holloway have all been mentioned as possibilities.

He is targeting a return in June or July this year and could slot in nicely on to July’s International Fight Week card.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

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