Brendan Schaub is not sold on the Paddy Pimblett – Conor McGregor comparisons: “Conor really wasn’t getting hit”

MMA analyst Brendan Schaub isn’t convinced by the recent comparisons being made about Paddy Pimblett and Conor McGregor.

Last Saturday night at UFC London, Paddy Pimblett moved to 2-0 in the promotion with a convincing first round submission win over Kazula Vargas. While many felt as if the victory was inevitable, the manner in which Pimblett dispatched Vargas was widely praised – even if he did face some early adversity, as he did against Luigi Vendramini.

The outpouring of support that Pimblett has been receiving has drawn some comparisons to Conor McGregor, given how Irish fans got behind him in his first run with the UFC.

Brendan Schaub, however, doesn’t think that’s the most accurate way of looking at things.

“You know, he gets hit. He does get hit. It makes it more exciting but if you were going to check a negative on it, it’s two fights in the UFC where he’s been hit. That scares you a little bit, if you’re going to compare him to Conor McGregor, obviously his stand up is not as good and not as crisp as Conor McGregor’s. Conor really wasn’t getting hit. But how do you get hit? I think it’s the style, I think it’s an experience, he’s excited, it could be a problem but I’m sure his team is realising the same thing.”

“It’s like a video game – the next level gets harder, harder, harder. You get to a certain point where you can’t get hit like that, you know? But it’s still early, he’s still dominating, he got the guy down. Anybody that is a Paddy fan knew that in this fight he was going to have a significant advantage on the ground.”

Can Paddy Pimblett have similar success in or out of the Octagon to Conor McGregor during his time with the UFC?