Pimblett floors Saint Denis in 52 seconds with a choke he had never attempted before

Paddy Pimblett produced the most striking performance of his career at UFC 329 in Las Vegas on Saturday, submitting top-10 lightweight Benoit Saint Denis with a hybrid D’Arce/Peruvian necktie choke just 52 seconds into the opening round — a technique he had never once attempted before stepping into the cage.

Saint Denis, who had never previously been submitted in his professional career, came out looking to impose his wrestling on Pimblett. Instead, he walked straight into the Liverpudlian’s submission game. Pimblett’s corner urged him not to burn his arms out as he locked in the hold, but “The Baddy” trusted his instincts.

“My head coach Paul, Ellis, and Chris were all there and Paul literally said, ‘Don’t burn your arms out,’ but I knew I had it cinched up,” Pimblett said at the post-fight media scrum. “I knew he was good at defending a guillotine, so we worked on other things around the guillotine and that was just there, picture-perfect.”

The finish was a product of specific preparation — Pimblett had drilled a Peruvian necktie for the first time in roughly a decade just five weeks before the fight — but the exact combination that ended the contest was entirely spontaneous.

“I’ve never done that before,” Pimblett admitted. “I just did that on the fly, that’s how I roll. My jiu-jitsu’s the best in the world.”

UFC CEO Dana White was among those left impressed, both by the finish and by the reception Pimblett received throughout fight week. White noted that even after Pimblett’s first professional loss — a hard-fought defeat to Justin Gaethje in an interim lightweight title fight at UFC 324 in January — his popularity continued to surge.

“He gained so much respect in that last fight,” White said at the post-fight press conference. “My social team was telling me after that last loss he gained, like, two million followers on social media from that night to the next morning. The way he came in tonight, it felt like he was the world champion.”

White also offered a tactical breakdown of where Saint Denis went wrong. “I felt like Saint Denis’ chance to win this fight was to keep it on his feet and strike, and then he shoots right in for a takedown. Very, very crazy — and what a nasty choke he put on him. It was incredible. Incredible performance for as short as it was.”

The win cements Pimblett’s status as one of the UFC’s most marketable stars and raises fresh questions about where he sits in the lightweight division’s pecking order.