Exclusively appearing on The Action Network podcast, we sat down with the Liverpudlian UFC superstar Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett. Just under a month shy of his victory against King Green in Manchester England, we spoke with Paddy about what’s next after going 6-0, his role promoting awareness around mental health, and what Israel Adesanya should do next.
We also spoke with Paddy on the hugely anticipated bantamweight title fight at UFC 306. The odds are pretty close right now, but many of the best sportsbooks out there are giving Sean O’Malley the slight edge in the odds.
Q: You’re 6-0 in the UFC and ranked No. 15 at Lightweight; what’s next? Main Event?
Paddy: No. They haven't reached out to us about a potential next fight, but Dos Anjos has got a fight.. He's fighting Jeff Neal at welterweight.
I think I'm gonna move up the rankings anyway because Dos Anjos has said he won't fight at lightweight again, and he's gonna fight welterweight from now on. So probably gonna get moved up to 14.
But now I wanna fight Renato Moicano. He wants to fight me. I wanna fight him.
I think it'd be a fun fight for everyone involved. We'd end up having a good fight. Yeah. If it was up to me, it's Moicano. It's a good scrap.
Q: How close do you think you are to a title shot? 2 fights away? 2 wins away?
Paddy: I'll let everyone else talk about that. I'll just keep fighting and winning. If I get offered Dan Hooker I'll take it. Jump right up to rank 5, and then it probably will be in a title eliminator next.
So, yeah, I'm game for any of them. As I say, any name gets sent to me, that's all sound.
I'm not shying away from fighting anyone.
Q: On a lighter note, what's the funniest bit of trash talk you've heard from an opponent or even a fan?
Paddy: There's some very bad ones. I wish I had other people here who would have been with me in shows so they could think of some. I’ve heard some terrible ones, but off the top of me, I can't even think of one!
Q: Anything you've said to an opponent to get in their head during a fight that you thought was, like, particularly clever?
Paddy: No. I'll be honest. Normally, I don't speak in fights. I spoke back to Bobby. Like I said, a few things back to Bobby, but I can't even remember what I said back. But, yeah, I don't normally talk in fights. Maybe if I'm on top of someone, and they've done me in head in.
I probably wouldn't wanna start talking shit on the feet and then get smacked! It's not a good look, is it?
Q: You have a ton of energy during your walkout. How do you flip that mental switch in your mind from your walkout to the actual fight?
Paddy: I don't know. People always ask me that, but I'll be honest. I have no clue. That's why I always say I'm just built to do this. I was made to do this. Obviously I've got all sorts of doubts going through your head before you're walking out. But when that music hits that, I couldn't have another care in the world. Nothing can get in my head. And then obviously, and the music goes off and you stand there facing your opponent.
I tell myself it's only me and him in this world. There's no one else on this planet now that matters. Just me and him and the ref.
That's it. No one else matters. So I've just gotta hurt him more than he can hurt me, and I'll win.
Q: Do you feel an adrenaline rush still when you're walking out, or are you calm when your music is playing?
Paddy: I don't feel like I have a crazy adrenaline rush. Because when I get in the cage, I feel sound. I feel fresh. I feel like I don't feel like I've done, like, a big workout. In the last fight, I watched it back and I was about 2 minutes 40 and one of my coaches shouted at me halfway. I remember thinking to myself: ‘F****** hell halfway here. I feel sound.’
And I remember, like, going at him [King Green] a little bit more, and then that's when I threw the leg kick and then he managed to grab hold of me!
Q: You’ve been very vocal about promoting and raising awareness on mental health, which is important in an environment like MMA. On days that you in particular are struggling, have you found any methods in particular to break yourself out of that fog or to get yourself back to your best?
Paddy: Well, now I have an added motivation. Because I've got kids. I've got 2 little girls that I need to get out of bed for them, go and train for them, and win fights and I've got my wife.
I've got them that I need to do it for.
But it’s not the motivation to get in the gym. It's just getting there.
Because I know once I've done my session, I'll feel better. And that's what I try to do when I'm down in the dumps. Just make sure I'm going to the gym. Because if I don't go to gym and just sit in my house all day, I'll just get even more depressed and start over thinking even more.
So I always say when you're feeling like that to connect with other people. You know what I mean? Those people that care about you. Sit around and get something to eat with them or watch something. Just sit and speak to them, and you'll feel 10 times better after.
That for me is the gym. Because, well, most of my mates are in the gym. Obviously, I've got mates that I grew up with that don't come to the gym, but most of my mates are in the gym. Like, who I see all day every day.
Going there for me is half therapeutic because I get to sit around and talk to all like minded people.
Q: Are there any changes in how you'd like to see how other MMA fighters address mental health, how it's addressed in gyms? How is it addressed in the community overall? What direction do you want to push this conversation in?
Paddy: I just hope everyone starts talking. I've experienced it myself. You know what I mean?
It happened the other week when I was fighting Bobby. I said about my mental health a couple of weeks out from the fight, like, 5, 6 weeks out from the fight. I just had people attacking me saying, ‘oh, he's only doing this to get some fans. He's only doing this for this and that’.
I know what it's like to have people online giving me shit, especially in positions where you may put themselves out there, and people just wanna attack here just to make themselves feel better.
Like, I just let everyone know that no matter how many people attack you, how many people say shit about you, you can do whatever the fuck he wants if you put your mind to it. Look at me – I'm just a rag arse from Liverpool. I'm taking over the f******world.
Q: Sean O'Malley vs Merab Dvalishvili – any thoughts on that Bantamweight title matchup?
Paddy: Grappler vs striker isn’t it? It’s whoever can implement the gameplan.
I see Dana’s not very happy with Merab for the business with his cut. It made me laugh.
But, yeah it's all about if Sean can use his length against the wrestling Because we all know Merab’s game plan is to come in, shoot him, take him down, maul him on the ground and just suffocate him.
But, Sean needs to keep it range. He uses kicks, uses punches. And it's just, as I say, it's whoever can implement the game plan.
Q: You've got a teammate making his UFC debut tomorrow, Nathan Fletcher. What can you tell us we should look out for with him?
Paddy: Nathan's got a very, very, very slick grapple. He's only lost once professionally, and then he lost on the ultimate fighter, but he had a fractured leg or a broken leg, something like that. I think that's why the UFC has given another chance, and he's fighting someone who has never lost on the show.
But Nathan’s got a lovely rear naked choke. He's a brilliant grappler. He's got lovely top pressure. And he's a back-taker, just like me. So I think he's gonna get a rear naked choke in the 1st round.
Q: Is that your favorite technique in general, the RNC?
Paddy: Nah, it’s the triangle. Flying triangle! I've already got some in the past, but the competition's gotten better now!
Q: Adesanya vs Du Plessis – did you think Adesanya looked a bit slower? Where does he go from here?
Paddy: I know he could do what Max Holloway couldn’t he? because everyone said that about Max Holloway. When he was beaten for the 3rd time. Everyone thought he might as well retire.
Max’s beaten everyone who’s been put in front of him. So I'd say fight another few top contenders, and he could end up getting another title shot because that belt could change hands.
If Strickland beats du Plessis, Adesanya's a shoe-in for the title shot because he won the belt off him. I mean, he's an absolute shoe-in for the title. He probably only needs one win against a Khamzat or a Whittaker, someone like that.
Q: What about Conor McGregor? Are we gonna see him again? Chandler’s inactive in the top 5 – Would you want to fight Chandler if he doesn’t get the McGregor fight?
Paddy: I really like Chandler! I'd rather not fight Chandler. I'd rather beat someone else.
Dan Hooker. I was thinking the other week, the perfect route to the title would have been Moicano and then Charles Oliveria. He's like rank 2. That's what O'Malley did. O'Malley went from, like, rank 11 to rank 1 or something.
Q: It seems a lot of times like the UFC makes title fights. They've got the data on the calendar. Now that you're up in the rankings, does that affect you? Are you trying to stay ready in case you get that call when something happens? That seems to be an important part of the UFC process now being ready on time?
Paddy: What do you think? I'm enjoying myself, I'm about 90 kilos right now!
Q: Let’s go back to your USA debut. Your last 5 fights have been in normal size octagons, but your debut is in the apex. And the apex cage is about 33% smaller than the normal cage. Do you remember just feeling a little bit tighter in there? Or a little bit claustrophobic when you stepped into that octagon compared to the other ones you fought in?
Paddy: It's no different to me. As I said before, a fight to fight, the amount of people who kept asking me leading up to that fight, oh, were you fighting at, like, 4 in the morning? Are you gonna start saying at a different time? I said, no. Do you think I'm getting up at 2:30 to go and train in the gym at 4 AM? Are you f******mad? Have you been smoking crack? Fuck that. I’ll just train at a normal time!
I said to everyone, when the when my f******song comes on in that f******arena and everyone's screaming my name, do you think that I'm gonna feel tired at all? No. I'm not gonna feel tired. So why would they change my training time? And it worked, didn't it?
Other people did change the saying on time, but it didn't work for them.
