Paddy Pimblett gets new opponent, faces Davide Martinez at Cage Warriors London

Dolly Clew, Cage Warriors

For the third time, a bout between Paddy Pimblett and Donovan Desmae has not come to fruition, but the Liverpudlian submission ace will remain in action in London on March 20 when he he faces replacement opponent Davide Martinez.

Cage Warriors announced the replacement opponent for the promotional frontrunner on Wednesday morning. According to a press release, Pimblett thanked the Italian prospect for stepping up on short notice.

“I hope he’s ready for a scrap come fight night, because I’m coming to make a statement,” said Pimblett, per Cage Warriors press release. “I’m happy to have a new opponent to focus on and want to thank Davide for taking the fight as he’s the only person to actually want to fight me. Everyone else talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk.”

Former Cage Warriors featherweight champion Pimblett (14-3-0) is one of the best known faces on the promotion’s roster. “The Baddy” has had a bad stretch of luck, missing out on three fights due to injuries to either himself or his opponents. Most recently, he had a fight pulled at the eleventh hour against former TUF finalist Joe Giannetti. The Next Generation fighter’s last outing came at Cage Warriors 96 when he lost a unanimous decision to European standout and recently signed Bellator lightweight, Soren Bak.

Martinez rides a six-fight win streak going into his Cage Warriors debut with the outspoken former champion. In his last outing, he claimed a unanimous decision win over a far less experienced opponent, Ion Voda, at Devil’s Cage in July.

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