Paddy Pimblett submitted Jordan Leavitt in the second round to record his third UFC win but ‘The Baddy’ wasn’t happy with his performance. After a tough opening round, Pimblett overcame adversity once again to secure the stoppage win.
His opponent, Leavitt, got the better of the early portions, out-muscling the Liverpudlian in grappling exchanges. But the tides turned as Pimblett took his opponent’s back in the second round and locked in a rear-naked choke. As he was torn apart from his opponent, Pimblett jokingly tea-bagged Leavitt as the crowd cheered for their hero.
Post-fight, he said: “This is how I get down boy. Tea bagging like Modern Warfare II. Once again, disappointed in my performance, I was not firing on all cylinders in the back but that was s**t. That’s what I always do, I’m very good at it. I love every person in this crowd.”
Pimblett was in tears as he walked past the media area, overcome by the death of his friend who committed suicide before his weigh-in. ‘The Baddy went on to dedicate the performance to his friend and spread a powerful message on mental health. He continued: “I woke up on Friday morning at 4 am to a message that one of my friends back home had killed himself, this was five hours before my weigh-in. So, Ricky lad that’s for you. There’s a stigma in this world that men can’t talk.
Just before Pimblett’s emphatic victory, his friend and training partner Molly McCann beat Hannah Goldy earlier in the card. ‘Meatball’ stopped ’24k’ in the first round of their contest after stunning her foe with a beautifully timed spinning elbow. As Goldy, slumped to the canvas, McCann let her hands go as she battered her adversary against the cage for the TKO win.
Pimblett’s result makes it 2-0 for Liverpool and secures Drake’s £1.9m parlay bet on the pair to win tonight. The Canadian rapper staked exactly £1,912,792.23 ($2,296,211.30) on both and will receive a payout of £3,101,401.33 ($3,723,077).
