Boxing legend Mike Tyson responds to claims UFC rising star Paddy Pimblett has ‘Conor McGregor vibes’ as Brit’s star keeps rising

Mike Tyson believes Paddy Pimblett must keep winning if he is to become the UFC’s next Conor McGregor.

Pimblett has made a great impression since entering mixed martial arts' biggest promotion and while his record is 18-3 overall, he’s gone 2-0 in UFC with two first-round finishes to his name.

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The Liverpudlian’s gift of the gab and style has led many to draw comparisons to McGregor, who is MMA’s biggest ever box office star.

While Pimblett was on a paltry $9,000 per fight contract to kick off his UFC career, he recently sign a seven-figure contract with Barstool Sports.

On the strength of that deal, boxing legend Tyson quizzed Barstool Sports president Dave Portnoy about Pimblett's skills on a recent episode of his , asking him how good he thought he was.

“Paddy the Baddy to me has like the Conor McGregor vibes in the sense of he’s electric on the mic, there’s something about him that’s very different.

"Conor McGregor, he has that too, and he could fight in there too.” 

McGregor had a hot start to his UFC career almost a decade ago and went on to win seven consecutive fights in the promotion before suffering his first loss.

Just 18 months after that loss, in 2016, McGregor was UFC’s first-ever double champion.

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"We’ll find out, but I think he can definitely fight. How good? We’ll find out but Dana [White] knows and Dana sees what I see in him which is this guy is a meal ticket," Portnoy added. 

"They’re not going to put him in versus King Kong anytime soon... and he sold out the London show the other day.” 

Tyson then said back: "When guys do that, let them fight. Don’t get him beat please.”

Iron Mike was one of the greatest ever box office attractions in combat sports in his heyday. 

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Tyson was 37-0 before he lost inside a boxing ring in 1990, while he was the world’s youngest heavyweight champion in history. It took over five years for Tyson to lose as a professional.

Of course, boxing is different than the UFC. Not many fighters are able to stay unbeaten in the UFC with Khabib Nurmagomedov probably the most famous exception to that rule.

Pimblett is back in action on July 23 as the UFC returns to London for a second time this year. He takes on ​​Jordan Leavitt at the O2 Arena.