UFC 282: Paddy Pimblett on his continuing inspiration, rise to relevance in MMA

The UFC lightweight fighter spoke with Yahoo Sports MMA insider Kevin Iole about his upcoming fight against Jared Gordon and the continued support he’s received since his post-fight speech in July addressing mental health awareness.

Video Transcript

[CROWD CHEERING]

KEVIN IOLE: Hey, folks. I am Kevin Iole. Welcome to Yahoo Sportsbook. My guest right now is one of the big stars in the UFC. Only been in the company for a short period of time, but he has taken the UFC by storm, the MMA world by storm.

I guess I should say that is, of course, Paddy Pimblett. He will be fighting UFC 282 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, against very tough Jared Gordon, a guy that always brings it. Paddy, how's it going, my man?

PADDY PIMBLETT: I'm great, lad. In a great place at the minute, feeling fine in the gym. We-- I've been waiting to pay [? respects, ?] So I haven't got to worry about nothing, to be honest. Everything's went smoothly. Very, very smoothly this camp. Not like me lost camp, where everything was-- it was hard, it were, last time, to be honest.

KEVIN IOLE: Right. That's great. You know, I wanted to get into that. For people who may have missed that fight card, or didn't read about it, you did what I thought was an incredible thing. I wrote about it after the fight.

Your friend, Ricky, sadly committed suicide the day before the fight. And you made a speech that I thought was one of the most incredible speeches from the Octagon, about mental health and suicide and getting help. And I want to talk about the aftermath.

What happened after that? And we're-- I'm sure people reached out to you, and you had a lot of people saying, you know, thanking you for what you did. But can you talk a little bit about the aftermath of that day?

PADDY PIMBLETT: Well yeah, to be honest, everything blew up on on media after I said it, and me social media and stuff went absolutely bananas. But it's the messages that I got off people saying, oh, 'cause you said that, I've reached out to someone and spoke. I haven't-- I haven't tried to commit suicide because of what you said. Like, stuff like that, it means more to me than any-- winning any fight ever will.

KEVIN IOLE: Right. I can imagine like what that must do to your heart. Because if somebody says, hey, I was thinking of killing myself and I heard what you said and I didn't do it, I mean, you know, what more heroic act is there? But the feeling that that must put inside you, it has to be incredible.

- Yeah, it does. I also lights a fire under me, that I need to keep on pushing, and keep on doing good in the Octagon. Because the better I do, the more I'll inspire people to live a better life, and to not even think about things like that.

- Fighting in the co-main event against Jared Gordon is interesting. Because Jared is similar, in the sense that he had a really crazy drug addiction. And the fact that Jared is alive today, when you-- I don't know if you know his story. But he has a wild--

- Yeah.

- A wild back story. And he, now, is out there every day helping people. So kind of the two of you, fighting in the Octagon, and each of you have a cause that you're really fighting for there's bigger than yourselves.

- Yeah. Jared's got such an inspirational story, to be honest. I respect him so much as a human being. He's a brilliant man.

Beaten through, coming through his addiction, what he's come through. And he was legally dead for 2 minutes as well, wasn't he?

KEVIN IOLE: Right. Yes, he was.

PADDY PIMBLETT: Then got come back to life. So it just shows you, he's got a purpose being here. And I think his purpose is to help former addicts, and to obviously help people as well, with mental health issues.

And I think that's one of the reasons I'm here, know what I mean? And like, I never thought I'd be making a speech like that after a fight. If that didn't happen with Ricky, two nights before it, then I wouldn't. Know what I mean?

But it's one of them things. Like, I mean, I said that and it came from the heart. It's just, sort of that I was passionate about it as soon as I heard about it.

Because obviously, it's so much big in the UK, as well. But in Liverpool, especially, over the past couple of months, there's been multiple people kill themselves in my city, about my age. It's the biggest killer of men between 18 and 50.

And no one speaks about it enough. And that's why I just, I thought, I'll just speak about it and I'm going to continue to speak about it, right up until I have no breath left in me.

KEVIN IOLE: And when you talk, some people look at you score the winning goal or you get the knockout punch or whatever, that you're a hero. But I think sometimes what you did, and what Jared has done and is doing, is more of a heroic act than anything else. Let's move onto the fight itself, though.

Jared's a fascinating guy. You know, he's kind of been up and down a little bit in his career. But when he's on, he is a really tough guy. What is the challenge you think he presents you?

PADDY PIMBLETT: To be honest, he's tough, know what I mean? He's hard to finish. But I think he's-- I'll be-- I think I'm better than him in every way.

You know, it's a step up in competition, because he's been in there with some of the best in the UFC. He's fought and won his last five. And the loss before that was the Charles Oliveira, the former champ.

KEVIN IOLE: Right.

PADDY PIMBLETT: But Jared beat him in a round. I want to be the champion one day, so I need to beat him in a round. That's just the way I look at it.

KEVIN IOLE: Mhm. Do you feel like there's any-- like, your ground game, obviously you've had, what, back-to-back submissions now, and a KO, I think, in the UFC. So you've been getting a lot of finishes. Do you think if this fight gets to the ground, that that's an advantage for you?

PADDY PIMBLETT: I think wherever the fight is, I'm an advantage. Think I have better Jiu-Jitsu, better wrestling, and better Tai-Kwon.

KEVIN IOLE: Interesting. What does it mean to you to be in the co-main event? So when the whole thing went down with Jiri Procházka, being out. And Ankalaev, then Blachowicz, moving up to become the main event for the Light Heavyweight Title, put you in the co-main event.

I mean, that gives you a little more-- you're in the spotlight a little bit more. And especially on a big Pay-Per-View, you've been in big, big fights already. But in a Pay-Per-View, this will be a big one for you. What does that mean to you, at all?

PADDY PIMBLETT: I was the people's main event anyway. You know that, Kev. I was what most people were buying the Pay-Per-View for it and buying tickets to come and watch the show for.

I'm the one that puts the bums on seats. That's basically it. Know what I mean?

Like, I know that. The UFC knows my star power. And that's just the way it is. It's like, I've got more followers on Instagram than "Hand Sanitizer," Bryce Mitchell, Ankalaev, Jan Blachowicz, and Jared Gordon, put together.

KEVIN IOLE: Right.

PADDY PIMBLETT: Know what I mean?

KEVIN IOLE: How did you build that following? Was it strictly fighting? Or was there a method to the madness that was beyond just hey, he's an exciting fighter to watch?

PADDY PIMBLETT: No, it's not just me, fighting. Know what I mean? It's me personality. If it was just fighting, then multiple fighters in the UFC would have millions of followers. You know?

Alexander Volkanovski, pound for pound, best in the world. And he is. He's an unbelievable fighter. But I don't think he's got 1 million followers.

KEVIN IOLE: Right.

PADDY PIMBLETT: It's also what you do outside the cage. And I'm just me. Know what I mean? Like, people can say all they want, oh, he's putting an act on.

He's putting a persona on. It's far from it. When there's cameras there and when there isn't, I'm exactly the same person. And it shows. Because people like that authenticity.

People, people like me for it. Like, a lot of people hate Colby Covington, me included. I think he's an idiot. But he's meant to be a very nice person when the cameras are off. So it's crazy.

KEVIN IOLE: One of the things, I guess it seems like the UK has produced, and I just think over the last number of years, Mike Bisping had that. He was a great fighter, obviously.

A UFC Hall of Famer, but he had the personality. And he made-- for a long time, he made everybody hate him. I think now as an announcer, he's changing the whole thing. The Tyson Fury, the boxing Heavyweight Champion, same way. He also has championed mental health issues.

Yourself, is there something about you guys over there, that you feel freer to sort of express personality than maybe fighters in the US, or other parts of the world, do?

PADDY PIMBLETT: Well, certainly you forgot to mention is we're all from the Northwest. So the three fighters you've just mentioned, they're from Liverpool and Manchester. Know what I mean?

We're all from the Northwest. And we're very exuberant characters from by us. So I think that plays a part, as being from the Northwest. Because there's other people who are in the UFC, that they're not from the Northwest. They're from different parts of the country, or different parts of the UK. And they don't get the attention that we get.

KEVIN IOLE: Right.

PADDY PIMBLETT: And that's just because of our personalities.

KEVIN IOLE: Sure. Your teammate, your friend, Molly McCann, had a rough one at UFC 281. They showed, when you fought on the same card as her, you in the back, watching her. And your reaction was priceless.

That was classic, to see you cheering for your teammate like that, right before your fight. What was it? Like, how hard was it to watch her against Erin Blanchfield?

Blanchfield, obviously, I think is a fantastic fighter and really on the rise. What was it like for you, watching that? Seeing your friend take such a beating? And I mean, she was in a tough spot. I mean, I give her a lot of credit. I mean, she's in that crucifix.

PADDY PIMBLETT: Yeah.

KEVIN IOLE: Oh, it's incredible. But how was it?

PADDY PIMBLETT: It was hard to watch. Like, there's a little bit of me watching it on one of my vlogs, to be honest. It was a difficult watch. The-- I got a little bit upset, but I got more angry. Know what I mean, eh?

KEVIN IOLE: Right.

PADDY PIMBLETT: It just lit-- it lit little another fire under me backside. Because I was look at it like I won't let this happen to me. And I'm going to come and steal the show in Vegas. I won't have people badmouthing our gym, like they have been in the past couple of weeks.

KEVIN IOLE: Right.

PADDY PIMBLETT: People are saying, oh, there's one hype thing on. The next one's on December 10th. We'll see. Know what I mean?

Some of the hate that I've received, not just Molly, over the past couple of weeks has been absolutely disgusting.

KEVIN IOLE: Wow.

PADDY PIMBLETT: But we'll see the next few weeks, won't we? We'll see what happens on December 10th.

KEVIN IOLE: Isn't it the thing? I'm sure in your young life you found this out. You know, you walk in the ring. Maybe they're booing you, or whatever. And then you do something good and you get a finish, everybody's all of a sudden cheering, and they're on your side, right? So you can't let that external stuff bother you too much, right? Because people are fickle.

PADDY PIMBLETT: Yeah, people are fickle. Like, it happened to me, years ago, when I lost my Cage Warriors belt. I had a message off someone from six months earlier.

Oh, you're the boss, Paddy. you're. The best, and all that. And then, the two days after I lost the belt, I got a message off the same kid, saying oh, you're shit, lad.

You've embarrassed us. The same person. Know what I mean? Hey, fans are fickle. You're only as good as your last fight. So she's going to get a bit of heat for a bit.

But as I say, I'm going to get that one back for us. Mark my words.

KEVIN IOLE: OK, we will do that. Let's, two other things. Let's go out. Number one, I notice you're eating some vegetables there.

Of course, you haven't hidden the fact that you kind of get more like the sportswriters at cage-side than the fighters, when in between fights you get a little bigger. So hey, I'm not one to criticize anybody for that, right? So believe me, you're not going to hear criticism from me.

But is it healthy for your body to blow up and down 50, 60 pounds between fights? And is it going to shorten your career, do you think? Are you worried about that?

PADDY PIMBLETT: I don't care.

KEVIN IOLE: No?

PADDY PIMBLETT: I do me, lad. I'm not going to let some armchair helmet tell me how to live my life--

KEVIN IOLE: Right.

PADDY PIMBLETT: --when they've never stepped foot in the cage. I went in the x-ray scan today, lad. Me body's the healthiest it's ever been.

KEVIN IOLE: Mhm?

PADDY PIMBLETT: So it's that simple, know what I mean? I've had an x-ray scan on my body. I'm 77.8 kilo, which is 171, or 172. And people think I'm going to struggle to make weight.

KEVIN IOLE: You're pretty good right now.

PADDY PIMBLETT: People don't know what they're talking about. People don't know what they're talking about, lad. So I don't mind that. People can keep talking about me weight all he wants.

KEVIN IOLE: Mhm.

PADDY PIMBLETT: Know what I mean? Just because me social media, like, me YouTube team, make up the odd video, saying oh, he's lost 50 pounds.

I have lost 50 pounds. But that's from when I was in America. At one point, when I got on the scales in America, I was 209. But I started this camp at 193.

KEVIN IOLE: So.

PADDY PIMBLETT: Know what I mean? So that's standard what like Dustin Poirier will do, or Islam will do, or Charles'll do. That's just standard procedure. But because it's me, and me cheeks go like this, people make a big deal of it.

KEVIN IOLE: So the weight goes-- yeah, the weight goes in different place in people.

PADDY PIMBLETT: Yeah, the weight goes a different place on me. I don't really get a belly. The weight just go like that to me face.

KEVIN IOLE: Yeah, that's crazy. Well, let's wrap with this. Obviously you said earlier you're very confident you're better than Jared Gordon, in all spots. Assuming you get through this successfully, map out 2023, for me. Where do you want to be at the end of 23?

PADDY PIMBLETT: I'm not in no rush. I'll just take, let me start at it. Say when. People say like, I'll always take an easy fight. I don't pick my fights.

KEVIN IOLE: Right.

PADDY PIMBLETT: Know what I mean? Sean Shelby picks my fights. I get sent a contract. I sign that contract.

I don't care whose name is on that contract. It doesn't matter if the champ's name's on there, or someone you've never heard of name's on there. Know what I mean? It doesn't make a difference to me. I just signed the contract that I get given, and I see an open fight.

KEVIN IOLE: Well, we will see. Hopefully you're going to be in some big fights. You'll win this one, you got your position for some big ones. Paddy Pimblett, we appreciate you, brother. Good luck. And we will see you in Vegas, next week.

PADDY PIMBLETT: You know that. Thank you very much, Kev. See you next week.