Paddy Pimblett’s heroic backstage interview about mental health at UFC London

Paddy Pimblett continued his meteoric rise through the UFC with another comfortable victory at UFC London over Jordan Leavitt.

He forced his opponent to submit in the second round to make it a double for Liverpool in the capital as Molly McCann secured victory over Hannah Goldy with a brutal spinning elbow in the opening round.

The Baddy went viral on Saturday night for his post-fight interview in the Octagon where he opened up about the importance of mental health, in particular in men, revealing his own personal heartbreak.

Scouse fighter Pimblett revealed that a close friend of his had committed suicide just before his fight, finding out on the morning of the weigh-in in the early hours of the morning.

Clearly emotional, he preached the importance of talking and opening up rather than struggling on your own. Rightfully so, he received plenty of praise for his words, using the major platform to deliver a vitally important message.

Then in his backstage post-fight interview, he went into more depth on his message. He claimed he had to stay strong for his friends who were also affected by the tragedy whilst admitting they were mentally burned out compared to him as he could focus on his fight.

He then said: “I’m doing it to get in there, to win my fight and to spread a message. Men don’t talk enough, women can just go and talk but men don’t, men have got this stigma where if I talk like that I’m a weak man.

“You’re not weak, you’re stronger than anyone if you can go and talk to your mate and say lad this is affecting me, you’re stronger than anyone, I don’t care what anyone says.

“People think bottling stuff up, bottling stuff up makes it better, I’ve been there, when I lost on Cage Warriors years ago and I broke my hand