UFC 329: Paddy Pimbett post-fight interview

What's happening? Patty, congratulations on, I don't know if it could go more flawless than it went for you tonight. Before we get into the fight, can you just talk about like the entrance and the energy? I mean, I know it's nothing new for you, but I don't know, tonight it just felt like on another level. Can you talk about just that whole experience? Yeah, it was unbelievable. That workout was spectacular. And obviously because Conor was fighting, there was even more stars there. I'll never forget getting in the cage and me boxing coach Chris going, like, get on Mike Tyson there. Mike Tyson, Vince Vaughn, Mel Gibson, P.O. Vaughn all singing and dancing to me song. It was like, there's no way I can lose here. I wonder, like, what's the middle trigger for you? Because, right, you're having so much fun, you're partying, but then you're about to get in a fist fight, right? So is there something like a sequence you go through or a thought that you go through that switches you from we're having fun to now there's a fight? Yeah, I just know there's another man in front of me that's going to try and kill me. So I'm going to kill him first. I just switch from walkout to when he's standing opposite me. He's the only person in the world that matters. You envisioned getting this thing done early. You kind of talked about the way it was going to happen. But I did wonder, I mean, early on in a fight, right? There's a possibility you could burn your arms out. There's a possibility you give up position because you're going for this choke. Was any of that playing through your mind in your decision-making? Or did you simply know, like, this is done at this moment? No, my corner was right in front of me. I coached Paul, Ellis, and Chris were all there. And Paul literally said, don't burn your arms out. But I knew I had it cinched up. I knew he was good at defending a guillotine. So we'd worked on other things around the guillotine. And that was just there, picture perfect. It wasn't a proper Peruvian necktie, but I literally drilled a Peruvian necktie for the first time in about 10 years, about five weeks ago when we coached. And it was like a mixture between a darts and a Peruvian necktie. But that's just how good my jiu-jitsu is. I can link things together like that flawlessly. I was going to say, it felt like you almost kind of just, like, implemented that on the fly, not necessarily. Oh, I've never done that before. I haven't. I've never done that before. I just done that on the fly. That's how I roll. My jiu-jitsu is the best in the world. That's amazing. Well, it was a huge win for you. I know afterwards you said, bottom line, look, I'll fight anybody out there. Last question for me. I mean, it does seem like you're one of the biggest stars on the roster right now. I could probably call some shots. So if the UFC doesn't have anybody in mind, do you have some things, hey, this is what I would prefer from you? No, not really. I want to be a world champion. I want to be undisputed champion of the world. I want to be the first ever world champion from Liverpool. And I'm going to do that. I know that's in my destiny. I know it's in my fate. Whether it's the next fight or the next 10 fights, I want to be a world champion. It's that simple. If you want me to fight Justin next, if you want me to fight Posh Boy next, if you want me to fight Chiritso next, if you want me to fight Charles next, anyone can get it. Paddy, I know obviously you don't need a lot of motivation. You said get up for a fight. Conor's on this card. But I'm just curious, for any reason, did you happen to watch a little bit of the World Cup before? And that fire you up a little bit even more. England comes in up win. And an hour and a half later, you're in the cage. Yeah, I never got to watch. Well, I did. I watched the first half. But then I got picked up from the hotel at 4.30. So I literally got to watch my teammate Luke get a lovely finish in the first round and then literally got picked up to come to the venue instantly. So I only just found out that Argentina won as well. So England will be playing Argentina next. So yeah, I didn't really. I don't need any more motivation. I've got my little twin babies at home, and they give me more motivation than anything in this world. I want to put food in their mouths and clothes on their back and win them fights, doesn't I? Paddy, over here. I know throughout the build of this fight you were asked about Conor and maybe MSG you guys could fight. You did your job and set yourself up for a big moment, but unfortunately the main event went the way that it did. What was your reaction to how that fight ended? It was sad to see, but that's the thing with this sport. You've got to stay consistent, you've got to keep fighting. I think where he hasn't fought in so long, his body couldn't keep up with it. Coming out and throwing a crazy kick like that first thing, his knee just collapsed underneath him, and I feel bad for him. He's put so much into coming back and getting back in the octagon, and that happens in the first five seconds. You've got to feel for him. Even Dana was back here just talking about the influx of positivity heading in your direction, and we talked about it at Media Day, and this was coming off of a loss. You're seeing people just kind of jump on your side, and obviously what happened tonight with the walkout and the performance, everything just seems to be lining up. If you could go back to the guy who fought Jared Gordon, like this version of Paddy Pimley, and go back and talk to that guy, what would you say to him when you felt like maybe the chips were down and you were trying to defend wins and all this stuff and not look where you're at all these years later? As I said the other day, I'm the ******* boy, aren't I? Like, back then before Jared Gordon, I was still an immature kid. I might have been 26, but I was still an immature child where now I've got kids of my own, and I've got a lot smarter head on my shoulders. Over here on your left, Paddy. Congrats, big win. I remember even back in your rise to Cage Warriors, you were always a fighter that divided opinion. You've got a lot more critics than a lot of fighters do, and a lot of it is because of your personality. You know, you're loud and you're you. You've been that way all through, and people have backed against you consistently. An example would be before the Chandler fight, a lot of people backing him to knock you out, and then you finish him and the narrative becomes that Chandler is washed. Now you've smashed, like definitively smashed, a very highly ranked contender in the division. Do you think this could be a tipping point where that narrative starts to change now, or will they just move the goalposts again? Yeah, the goalposts will get moved. Everyone will say, oh, BSD was ---- anyway. You know what I mean? When two days ago it was, BSD's going to smash Paddy's grappling's well better. He's got too much power for him, this and that. But people just love moving the goalposts with me, and I don't give a ****. Move them all you want. As long as I keep winning, I keep getting paid, I keep making steps towards being a world champion. You can say what you want. Anyone can say what they want about me. Simple. You had a special moment earlier in the week when you were voted by the fans, I'll add, the International Fighter of the Year at the 17th annual World MMA Awards. So people can be on your back and you can have your critics, but I think that kind of defined that, or that showed really what the fans think about you. What did that award mean to you? Yeah, I didn't expect that. I'll be honest, when I got told I was collecting an award, I thought I was getting a charity award or something, because I only got my head punched in in January. So I was thinking, I must be getting something for my charity work or something here. But when I stepped up and got that, I was shocked. You know what I mean? But I really have got the best fans in the world. I might divide opinions, a lot of people might hate me, but the people who like me absolutely love me. And I have got the best fans in the world, and I can't thank them all enough for the support, because they motivate me so much to keep driving and keep pushing on. Top man, congrats. Paddy, you had a really special moment there in regards to Yogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva. Just talk to me a little bit more about how long you had that planned and what it meant to actually do it today. Obviously, I wanted to do that in January. But when you lose, you can't start singing someone's song, can you? You know what I mean? You've got to do it when you win. And it was quite poignant, really, because it was his anniversary a week ago. And, you know, he's never going to be forgotten. He'll never walk alone. His family will never walk alone. And he's forever going to be number 20, lad. He's forever going to be remembered as a Liverpool legend. And I want the whole world to know that. Hey, Paddy, you woke out tonight, and I loved how observant you were. You said, I'm seeing Vince Vaughn, I'm seeing Mel Gibson, and they're there to watch you, right? Dreams are free. Paddy, what about if Harry Kane and his men in America, in the United States, take their team to the World Cup final? Will they be telling their friends in the media, we saw Paddy Pimblett in the crowd? Nah, because I'm going home on Tuesday. You're going home on Tuesday? Yeah. You promised us at the press conference, you said, I need less than two minutes. I want the bonus. I've got kids. Lad, I've got to feed them. You did. Well done. Yeah. Late work. Paddy. Paddy, you talked about your submission hybrid. It was a beautiful submission, by the way. Beautiful job, of course. And it made me think of, you mentioned Charles Oliver earlier, and it made me think of his finish over Hatsu Hayoki. I don't know if you remember that one. Yeah, years ago, that was when people had their own shorts on and everything. Yeah, and you had your own style to it, of course, but it made me think, I can't help how your submission grappling would stack up with Charles. I'm sure you've thought about it before, but can you share it with us? Have you ever thought about that fight? I know he's facing his rematch. And have you heard anything back from him? Well, if it does get booked, I think we all would hope it would be booked for five rounds if it goes that long. But last for me, I want to follow up on that charity question. I know you've done work for causes that are important to you, like men's mental health, amongst others. Can you tell us, it's great to see fighters giving back to their communities, but what's it mean to you, and why is it important to you, Paddy? I always say it's nice to be nice. You know what I mean? Just being a nice person will get you further in the world. And I think you should give back to the people who've been there for you and done things for you over the years. And my city has supported me for years and years. I've never felt not at home in my own city. I've always had the support of the Mammy country. You know, people make this big thing because I've said in the past I'm Scouse, not English. But I'm still English. You know what I mean? I'm still English. I still support all the other English fighters and all the fighters from the UK. It's just a saying that we have. I just think anyone in my position who's got a little bit of presence should give back and should use their presence for a good cause. And that's what I like to do with men's mental health, with helping kids out and anything like that. Thank you, Paddy. Paddy. It feels like hardcore fans have known how good Luke Raleigh has been for a long time. Do you think tonight was his breakout performance? Yeah. You could say that. Luke's the boy, lad. You know what I mean? I spar with him. I train with him. I know how good he is. People just think I say that because he's my training partner. You know what I mean? That kid, it's like a truck. I've fought Justin Gagey and I've sparred with Luke Raleigh and Luke Raleigh hits harder than Justin Gagey. And people are going to get to know that over the next few months, lad, because he's going to stay consistent. He's going to keep fighting. And he'll be ranked in the next year, 18 months, 1 million percent. Do you think he'll be champion? Yeah. He's got the potential to be champion, lad. He's been Thai boxing since he was 8 years old in stadiums in Thailand. He's got some of the best composure I've ever seen of any fighter and he's going to be a superstar. Who else from your gym should you shout out that's coming up? We've got loads, lad. My boy George Staines. You'll be getting to know him real soon, 10 and 0. Nathan, who's already fought in the UFC, didn't go his way. He'll be back in the UFC soon. We've got multiple lads that are ready. You know what I mean? Adam Cullen, another lightweight. Little Connor Wilson, flyweight lad. There's loads of boys out of the gym that are coming up and you'll get to know them real soon. Thank you. Hey, Paddy. Eric Richter, New York Post. When we talked last week in our interview between you and me, you were talking about how you thought Benoit Saint-Denis grappling was a hole that you could expose, but you stopped short of naming exactly a submission. So you kind of predicted your outcome there. Talk to me about what you saw in the lead-up to the fight and how you just made it happen so quickly. I just know how good my jiu-jitsu is. I know how good my grappling is. And I knew he was going to shoot him within 20 seconds like he does every fight. And I think he shot him within 10 seconds. And I knew I was going to choke him. I just knew, whether it was a guillotine, whether it was a dash, whether it was a head and arm, whether it was the sick ---- what I did, I knew he was getting put unconscious, lad. And I know he's a warrior, and I knew I'd have to put him to sleep, and I did. Yeah, I remember when we were talking, I had asked for a prediction, and you were like, I want to give away my strategy a little bit. But that outcome for you, is there anything specifically special about this one, considering you kind of predicted it, going into it? Yeah, the fact that I said what I was going to do. I've been saying it all week. I said he's going to shoot in, and I'm going to catch his neck. The fact I said that I was going to do it, and I submitted him in under a minute. You don't really see many submissions under a minute. People have to wait for the position and get something. I literally choked his ass out in 52 seconds, or whatever it was. He was like a dead body on the floor. If I wanted to kill him, I could have. I have to say to Goddard myself, he's out. If you watch the replay, I say to Goddard, he's out. Because as soon as he rolled, and then he went limp, I was just like, he's unconscious. Thank you very much. Congratulations. Paddy, back here. Before the fight, your daughters gave you a very sweet good luck video. You posted it. What goes through your mind when you see that on fight day? How happy are you to go home to celebrate with them? I can't wait. My wife sent me that a few days ago, to be honest. My wife's here now. My sister sent me a video today of them dancing. She sent me a message saying, the dance you do when you know your dad's going to win. I was just laughing my head off. I can't wait to get on holiday with them. You know these fight camps are hard. I've been training for 10 weeks, and some days I only see them in the morning for breakfast. It does take father time away, but I'll be going on holiday with them next week, and then I'll be going back on holiday with them for a couple of weeks after that, and spending all my time with my beautiful wife and beautiful kids. Enjoy the win, and enjoy the family time. Thank you. Paddy? Yes, Mike? How are you feeling? I'm good, lad. I'm very good. You were asked a second ago about Luke Riley and his big win. I know there was a social post that went out where you maybe weren't too happy that he was asked to leave the arena after his fight. Do you know he got actually back in? Yeah, he got back in, didn't he? He had to get a ticket and get back in. It's mad the way... It's not one anyone can do. It's the commission, I think. They don't let fighters leave just for being in the stadium, which is a bit mad. He's just forced to let him go and sit down, have a seat and enjoy the baddie show. And they wouldn't let him do it. But he got back in, that's all that matters. And what a show that was. Last question from me, mate. Six months ago, you had your first shot at a UFC title in this arena. Does tonight feel like you maybe wrote the wrong, if you will? A little bit. It was a little bit of redemption, if you know what I mean. Same city, same building. I don't know if it was an even bigger card, because that was the Paramount debut. But this had McGregor on, so it probably is a bigger card. I stole the show. That main event was lacklustre. Everyone can say that. I was basically the main event. Motherfucker got slept. Congrats on the win. Peace out, bitches.