"I was the low hanging fruit" - Paddy Pimblett recalls bitter social media abuse urging him to 'take his life' after Jared Gordon fight
UFC lightweight sensation Paddy Pimblett is undeniably one of the most popular fighters to emerge in the sport today. However, this acclaim has come at the cost of increased scrutiny and, at times, distasteful comments from detractors.
In his last appearance in the octagon at UFC 282, Paddy Pimblett scraped out a narrow unanimous decision victory over Jared Gordon. However, despite the win, Pimblett found himself on the receiving end of significant backlash, particularly due to the closely contested nature of the fight. Many fans, fighters, and analysts scored the bout in favor of Gordon.
The 28-year-old, a longstanding advocate for men's mental health education and awareness, openly expressed being affected by comments by prominent figures such as Nate Diaz and Joe Rogan asserting that he had lost the fight.
As Pimblett gears up for his next challenge against Tony Ferguson at UFC 296, he reflected on the bitter social media abuse he endured, including disturbing messages urging him to 'take his life' following the Jared Gordon fight. Speaking in a recent interview with Sky Sports, Pimblett said:
"I haven't handled it that well, it hasn't been easy. Especially after the last performance [that] was lackluster. The last performance was not my best at all. I injured my foot in the first two minutes off a kick... I was just happy I got through the fight and then when I won I was like even better."
Pimblett added:
"The amount of times I've been told that I lost that fight even though the only people that matter, the three judges, scored it for me. The last year has been quite hard, to be honest lad. The amount of people that have been giving me hell on social media and online. I have even been getting told by people to take my life and stuff light that. It's rough... I was the low-hanging fruit that was easy to jump on the hate bandwagon at that time."
Catch Paddy Pimblett's comments below (4:00 onwards):
Paddy Pimblett claims upcoming fight against Tony Ferguson at UFC 296 is a lose-lose situation for him
UK MMA star Paddy Pimblett is set to take on former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson at UFC 296. While several fans and fighters think that this will be a good test for Pimblett, the 28-year-old perceives it as a "lose-lose" scenario for him.
Once renowned as the lightweight division's "boogeyman" with an impressive 12-fight win streak, Ferguson's career trajectory has witnessed a significant downturn since his loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC 249. 'El Cucuy' has lost six straight fights which has led some in the MMA community to speculate that Ferguson should consider retirement.
Previewing the upcoming fight on his YouTube channel, Paddy Pimblett stated:
"This fight is a lose-lose for me, Tony Ferguson. I don't care what anyone says. It's a lose-lose. He's on a six-fight losing streak. If I win - When I win, I'm just going to be like it's Tony Ferguson. He's finished. He's this. He's that. If I lose, I don't think it's going to happen, but if I lose, everyone's going to be like, 'You just lost to a finished Tony Ferguson.' So it's a lose-lose for me, but as I told you all in the past, 'I will never turn down a fight.' Any fight that's ever been offered to me by the UFC I've signed on the dotted line, and that's what's happened here."
Catch Pimblett's comments below: