New UFC Star’s Bold Prediction For Paddy Pimblett vs Michael Chandler

A new star in the UFC, the former Bellator MMA ruler Patricio Freire, has made a bold prediction for the upcoming lightweight fight between his fellow Bellator recruit Michael Chandler, and the surging British fighter Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett. Chandler vs Pimblett takes place on Saturday, the 12th of April, in the co-main event for the UFC 314 show at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.

The UFC 314 event is a pay-per-view show, featuring some of the biggest stars in the entire sport. Though Alexander Volkanovski takes on Diego Lopes for the featherweight championship in the main event, and Patricio ‘Pitbull’ takes on Yair Rodriguez in his UFC debut, the bout between Chandler and Pimblett may well be the star of the show.

In Chandler, there’s an animal of a lightweight, who has fought nothing but dogs since joining the UFC, and standing opposite him is Pimblett, who showed against King Green that his ability may well justify his hype and popularity. Should Pimblett win, he could be just one more win from a lightweight title fight.

And Freire himself made a bold prediction for how the 155-pound battle could go down.

Michael Chandler and Paddy Pimblett’s professional MMA records (as of 01/04/25)
	Michael Chandler	Paddy Pimblett
Fights	32	25
Wins	23	22
Losses	9	3

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Patricio Freire’s Bold Prediction for Michael Chandler vs Paddy Pimblett

Former Bellator champ rules out victory for Chandler, as he sides with Pimblett

For Freire, it comes down to momentum, and who has it. With Chandler losing four of his last five, and with Pimblett unbeaten since joining the UFC, it’s clear — to Freire, at least — who the winner in this fight will end up being.

Speaking to Middle Easy, Freire said:

“It looks like Paddy Pimblett is in the better moment of his career, and he’s going to win that fight. I know he’s very confident, and I think he’s going to win the fight.”

Such a win for Pimblett, ranked No.12 in the UFC, would propel him much higher in the rankings — perhaps higher than Chandler, who currently occupies the No.7 spot. Outside of the champion Islam Makhachev, the top five includes Arman Tsarukyan at No.1, and then Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje, Max Holloway, and Dustin Poirier after him.

UFC 314 airs as a pay-per-view on ESPN in the US.