Matt Brown believes UFC 329 belonged to Paddy Pimblett, not Conor McGregor, after the Liverpudlian’s submission win over Benoit Saint Denis on the same night as McGregor’s ill‑fated return.
Pimblett tapped Saint Denis with a modified D’arce choke in less time than it took McGregor to suffer a knee injury and lose to Max Holloway just 69 seconds into his comeback fight. Brown said the performance and atmosphere around Pimblett made the event feel like his night.
"That was his night. Good for him. He lived up to the expectations. Amazing submission on BSD," Brown said, later adding, "He stole the f*cking show, it was his night. Conor bombed and you’ve got to give it to Paddy. He f*cking did it right."
Brown praised Pimblett’s rise and connection with fans, saying, "Everybody is singing his song and dancing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that before... It’s just lightning in a bottle. It feels like Conor McGregor back in his day." He also noted, "Paddy’s done all the right things. He’s saying all the right things. He’s doing all the right things. He deserves everything that he gets."
However, Brown remains unconvinced about Pimblett’s ultimate ceiling, pointing to his previous interim lightweight title loss to Justin Gaethje and contrasting him with McGregor’s double‑champ run, saying, "Do you think Paddy would be double champ, ever? I have a hard time believing that... You’ve got to win a title at least and that’s not looking so great for Paddy right now."
