Paddy Pimblett on fame, lizards, Liverpool and life after his UFC debut

Paddy Pimblett's UFC debut earlier this month was eye-catching to say the least.

From the haircut to the post-fight interview via a first-round victory he had promised, 'The Baddy' was simply box office.

Aged 26, the Englishman has vowed to "take over" the UFC, describing himself as "the new cash cow" and "the main man on the roster".

This week he appears as a guest on MOTDx, picking a Liverpool XI of the best players he's seen.

Before that, we caught up with him to talk about his long-awaited UFC debut, calling people "sausages" and "lizards", why loyalty is so important to him, and much more.

'If I'd have signed to UFC years ago, it would have ended in tears'

Though global attention is a new thing for Pimblett, he has long been hyped in the fight community, particularly on his home patch of Merseyside.

In 2016, aged 21, he won the Cage Warriors featherweight belt, which had previously been held by the legendary Conor McGregor. It set high expectations.

He has had ups and downs in his career, though, including losing the title to Nad Narimani in his home city in 2017.

And he twice turned down the opportunity to fight in the UFC before finally accepting this year.

Does he feel the decision to wait was vindicated by his first-round defeat of Brazil's Luigi Vendramini?

"Everything got timed perfectly," he says confidently, adding: "If I'd have signed years ago, it would have ended in tears.

"I know my head won't fall off when I get a bit of dough and I get a bit of fame. I did that when I won that first world title at 21 and started thinking I was the boy."

'The fact it wasn't a flawless win made it even better'

Pimblett has been seen as a grappler in the past - but he showed on his UFC debut that he can box too.

And his celebration - shouting "who can't punch?" to those outside the octagon - indicated it was a point he wanted to prove.

Teddy Atlas, who worked with former boxing world champions Barry McGuigan and Alexander Povetkin, was among those to praise the way Pimblett recovered from an early Vendramini shot to punch his way to victory.

It was something Pimblett cherished.

"He's a legend," he says. "When people like that are giving you credit, it feels great.

"The fact it wasn't flawless made it even better for me - that's just my career. I always say I need to get punched in the face to get woken up."

And that brash style is all part of the game for Pimblett.

"I can't help it," he says. "Even in the gym my coaches are always telling me to keep my chin down, but I just get into scraps.

"I enjoy punching people in the face and getting punched in the face - and I know people like to watch that as a show. I'll continue to do what I do."

Every day's a cheat day at the moment

Pimblett was in the best shape of his life before his UFC debut, but he loves a treat - and he's been indulging in the sweet stuff since his fight.

"You want to see the food I've been putting away," he says.

"I reckon I've been eating about 5-6,000 calories every day, maybe even 7-8,000 calories, going out for a meal twice a day and then having ice creams and bubble waffles and brownies."

He's adamant the healthy routine starts again soon, though.

"I'll be fighting again before the end of the year, so as long as I give myself time to cut the weight back down, it's sound," he says.

Jokes about his hair

Pimblett hasn't had to look far to see the impact fighting in the UFC has had on his profile.

His Instagram account was taken down before fight week after he got into a row with a follower, and since he set up a new one, he's noticed a lot of new interest.

"One fight and I'm over 600,000 followers," he says. "At the start of fight week, I was on 30,000, if that."

A raft of memes - lots of them about his hair - have also flooded in.

What does Pimblett make of it all?

"I love it," he says. "The one that made me laugh most is that someone said I looked like a 15th Century peasant who'd survived a harsh winter. That one tickled me."

Calling people 'lizards' and 'sausages'

Another aspect of Pimblett's character that may have endeared him to new audiences is his love of daft insults.

Asked what he thought of YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, Pimblett called him a "sausage".external-link

When UFC broadcaster Megan O'Livi asked him which fighter he wanted to take on next, he responded by calling out Instagram, saying: "Give me my account back, you lizards."

O'Livi has adopted the term herself.

"I was laughing my head off when I saw she'd posted that," Pimblett says.

Lizards, sausages… what does it all mean?

"Scousers just say weird things, don't we?" he says. "I love weird insults like 'sausage' or 'mushroom'.

"It doesn't even make much sense, saying to someone: 'You're a mushroom.'"

'We look after our own'

Pimblett has trained at the same gym, with the same team, since he was a teenager.

It's the same with his personal life. He has been with his fiancee, who comes from the same area of Liverpool, for 10 years.

"From my bedroom window in my ma's, you can see my girlfriend's mum's bathroom window," he says.

"It's like six doors down. And now we've got our own house together, just around the corner."

It's all about community.

"That's what we do in this city," he says. "We look after our own."

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