UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski has praised the UFC’s new ‘cash cow’ Paddy Pimblett, for the path he’s taken thus far.<\/p>\n
Pimblett is scheduled to make his pay-per-view debut this Saturday at UFC 282 against Jared Gordon. The Liverpudlian has promised to take the roof of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
So far in his UFC career, Pimblett has finished Luigi Vendramini<\/a>, Rodrigo Vargas and Jordan Leavitt. However, it’s the Scouser’s popularity and hype that has landed him the co-main event slot this early in his UFC tenure.<\/p>\n Volkanovski, the king of the featherweight division and potentially the lightweight division, has been watching Pimblett’s rise from afar. The Australian is scheduled to face Islam Makhachev at UFC 284<\/a> and, if successful in attaining double champ status, could face Pimblett in the future.<\/p>\n Despite being a potential opponent, Volkanovski admires the route Pimblett has taken to gain a worldwide fanbase. Volkanovski explained what he liked the most about the up-and-coming star on his Youtube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t mind seeing guys like Paddy do well, especially when there\u2019s so much hype and he\u2019s bringing a lot of eyes to the sport,\u201d Volkanovski said of Pimblett. \u201cI have a lot of respect for that. He\u2019s still young. I respect him with the fact that he doesn\u2019t want to rush into the biggest challenges straight away. He\u2019s still young, still learning, earning his way in\u2026building that hype up. At the same time, I think he\u2019s doing it right, so good on him.\u201d<\/p>\nAlexander Volkanovski praises Paddy Pimblett prior to UFC 282<\/h3>\n