For nearly a decade, one of MMA’s strangest rumors has followed Paddy Pimblett and Conor McGregor. The story claimed that, during a visit to Liverpool in 2017, around the time of his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, McGregor supposedly showed up at Paddy Pimblett‘s home, rang the doorbell, and tried to confront the then-Cage Warriors star.

Now, ahead of UFC 329, where Paddy the Baddy will feature in the co-main event that will be headlined by McGregor vs Holloway, the 31-year-old has finally put the rumor to rest once and for all. Speaking during UFC 329 media day, ‘The Baddy’ dismissed the story as complete fiction.

“It’s a load of s—e,” Pimblett told reporters. “No, it never happened at all… When he was in Liverpool, people said that he knocked on my house. Some people made it up that he wanted to fight me, and some people made it up that he wanted to get me out to party with him.

“This is like 2017 when I was still fighting on Cage Warriors, but I was still living in my mum’s at the time. My mum has cameras on the house, and nobody knocked on our door. Unless he knocked on the wrong door!”  

With that, Paddy Pimblett has finally put to bed a rumor that had long connected him to Conor McGregor. Following his comments, UFC 329 media day reporters also happened to ask ‘The Notorious’ about the same story, and he, too, dismissed the entire thing, calling it “nonsense.”

The rumor gained traction because Pimblett had publicly called out Conor McGregor in 2015, boldly claiming he would “smoke him” and also predicting that the Irishman would lose to Jose Aldo. As a result, many believed ‘The Notorious’ had visited Liverpool in an effort to confront him. According to Pimblett, however, none of it ever happened.

In a 2021 interview on Anything Goes With James English, Pimblett spoke about the rumor and explained that his mother’s residence had “security cameras,” which would have captured McGregor. He further pointed out that if McGregor had really appeared at his door, he would have recorded the incident and shared it on social media because it would have made him famous. Still, ‘The Baddy’ maintained in the same interview that the Irishman was indeed in Liverpool with some other people.

Even though Pimblett has laid the rumor to rest, Dan Hooker brought up the old story during another UFC media day. The Kiwi has plenty of bad blood with the Englishman, which is why he implied that Pimblett didn’t dare confront McGregor outside his house after all the “s—t talking.” However, with both Pimblett and McGregor confirming that the incident never actually happened, Hooker’s tirade has definitely lost some of its value.

Now, after clearing the air around the long-running rumor, Pimblett also shared his thoughts on Conor McGregor’s long-awaited return to action.

Paddy Pimblett points out Conor McGregor’s biggest advantage against Max Holloway

Paddy Pimblett will share the UFC 329 card with Conor McGregor as he takes on Benoit Saint Denis in the co-main event. So, the Liverpudlian is undoubtedly focused on the task ahead. However, like many others, he also has his own thoughts on the Irishman’s long-awaited return to action after the five-year hiatus.

According to ‘The Baddy’, the former two-division champion returning at 170 lbs could give him a noticeable size advantage over Max Holloway. For that, Pimblett believes an early finish for McGregor is far from out of the question. But if the fight stretches into the later rounds, he feels the edge would gradually swing in Holloway’s favor.

“Personally, I think because it’s at welterweight, I can see Conor knocking him out,” Pimblett told TNT Sports. “Everyone’s counting Conor out and thinks that Max is going to win it. If it goes to the later rounds, yeah, Max definitely probably will start piecing him up on the feet because he’s got that cardio and the volume. But, the fact that it’s at welterweight, I think, favors Conor because Charles (Oliveira) made Max look small at lightweight. So, imagine how big Conor’s going to look compared to him at welterweight.”

To be fair, Conor McGregor has significantly more experience than Max Holloway at welterweight. The Irishman has fought Nate Diaz twice at 170 lbs and also faced Donald Cerrone in the same division, so it’s reasonable to expect that he knows how to adjust to the weight class. However, ‘The Notorious’ is also returning after a five-year hiatus, which is more than enough time for ring rust to become a factor. On the other hand, Holloway’s activity could very well challenge McGregor’s experience at welterweight.

With both Pimblett and McGregor competing on the same UFC 329 card, the event is stacked with star power. It will also be interesting to see whether the two finally end up facing each other one day, after all the history and long-running rumors surrounding them.