UFC 329 was supposed to be about Conor McGregor's return after 5 years away. Instead, the biggest story out of Las Vegas is a co-main event submission and a main event injury nobody can fully explain yet. Pimblett choked out Benoit Saint Denis in :52 of round 1 with a D'Arce, running his record to 24-4-0, while McGregor's rematch with Max Holloway got waved off just 69 seconds in after he landed awkwardly on his right knee. Two fights, two completely different aftermaths, and Barstool has been running both storylines all week.
Dave Portnoy wasted no time taking a victory lap on the Pimblett front. He's been on the Paddy bandwagon since long before UFC 329, and he made sure everyone knew it on Wake Up Barstool, bringing up Pimblett's old appearances in the Dozen and Barstool's trivia tournament as proof he called this years ago.
Dave Portnoy bragging on Wake Up Barstool about buying "Paddy the Baddy stock" early.
Self-congratulation aside, the underlying point holds up. Pimblett is 24-4 now, he finished a legit opponent in under a minute, and he's already one of the UFC's best interviews. That combination — finishes plus personality — is exactly what turns a good fighter into a needle-mover, and it's why the "next face of the UFC" conversation started almost immediately.
A Barstool panel breaking down just how quick and clean Pimblett's finish was.
Meanwhile McGregor's side of the card is murkier. He hadn't fought in years, and reports out of the event have doctors suspecting a torn ACL, though at least one outside expert has floated a meniscus tear as more likely. McGregor himself has said he felt fine in camp and backstage right up until the injury happened, which hasn't stopped the internet from wondering out loud whether the whole thing was legit.
Barstool posing the question a lot of fans are quietly asking: was the injury real?
That skepticism is exactly why Pardon My Take reached for a Jose Canseco comparison, a reference to Canseco's infamous history of injury-related exits, essentially asking if McGregor pulled the same move. It's a cynical take and an unproven one — nothing here confirms McGregor faked anything — but it captures how much goodwill McGregor has burned with fans over the years that this is even a conversation.
Whatever the truth about the knee, the door is now wide open for someone else to become the promotion's centerpiece, and Pimblett just kicked it down with a highlight-reel finish in front of the whole company.
Barstool putting the question to its audience directly: who takes over as the face of the UFC now?
McGregor's timeline is now a waiting game on imaging and a specialist opinion, and there's no telling when — or if — he steps back in the octagon again. Pimblett, on the other hand, just handed the UFC an easy answer to a question it's been searching for since McGregor stopped being a reliable draw: a young, brash, entertaining finisher who can actually still fight.