Paddy Pimblett proved emphatically Saturday in a one-sided finish of Michael Chandler at UFC 314 in Miami that looks can be deceiving.
Pimblett hardly looks like a ferocious and fearsome opponent, but he put a bad beating on Chandler and stopped him with ground-and-pound at 3:07 of the third round in the co-main event.
Pimblett has the Prince Valiant haircut and isn't thick and muscled the way so many UFC fighters are. But he's got an elite ground game, vastly underrated striking and knows the game very well.
The tide turned in the second, but it really shifted at the start of the third. Pimblett got Chandler with a leaping knee that opened a gaping wound under Chandler's left eye. Pimblett a bit later slammed Chandler to the ground. He worked briefly for a choke, but with the sweat and blood, it was difficult for him to pull it off.
He transitioned into mount and started ground-and-pounding Chandler. Referee Kery Hatley jumped in to stop it as Chandler wasn't responding and Pimblett was lighting him up with elbows and punches.
"This is how we we," Pimblett said. "We game plan. We use our fight IQ and we beat mother f*ckers up. Anyone else got any questions?"
Chandler entered the fight ranked seventh, five spots ahead of Pimblett. But he was never able to mount a significant offense. Pimblett took over in the second and was dominating in the third until Hatley mercifully stopped it.
Pimblett has won seven in a row in the UFC, finishing five, and nine in a row overall.