Soren Bak hopes UFC call-up comes from Paddy Pimblett win, doubts Jack Grant is title ready

Soren Bak hoped a UFC call-up would be on the agenda for him ahead of his fight with Paddy Pimblett at Cage Warriors 96.

Now that he’s claimed a decision win and the vacant Cage Warriors lightweight title over Pimblett in Liverpool, he hopes that call from the U.S. will come through soon.

“I sincerely hope,” Bak told MMA Fighting’s Peter Carroll on a recent episode of Eurobash podcast.”

“I’m happy with my performance, and for my first time being in championship rounds, I felt I did well with the situation. I believe I showed my heart in that fight and I’m ready to move on.”

After claiming a win over the only person to have beaten Bak in MMA, Aleksi Mantykivi, on the same night “The True Viking” was crowned champion, many are pointing to Jack Grant as the next title challenger for Bak’s lightweight strap.

Bak isn’t sure if the Brit is title-ready just yet.

“Everyone seems to think that Jack Grant would be the obvious choice. I see a lot of guys on social media saying that Jack Grant would walk right through me, the same thing [I heard] before fighting Martin Stapleton and Paddy Pimblett,” Bak said.

“We looked at Jack Grant before and he’s a really good fighter, but the thing we noticed is Aleksi Mantykivi is the first fight that he’s fought against someone that is at the top of the division.

“I don’t know if Jack Grant needs to show a bit more before he’s ready for a title shot, I don’t know. Me and my trainer are talking right now about the possibilities, because when you gain the Cage Warriors belt, you have a couple of months to figure out what you’re going to do next.”