Paddy Pimblett is not wrong, but I'll never have him on my show: Din Thomas on Pimblett-Helwani beef (Exclusive)
Former UFC fighter turned analyst Din Thomas has weighed in on the recent drama between Paddy Pimblett and Ariel Helwani.
Thomas discussed the beef between Pimblett and Helwani, which happened leading up to 'The Baddy's PPV debut at UFC 282. During fight week, the Liverpudlian invited Dana White onto his Chattin' Pony podcast and whilst previewing the upcoming card, moved onto the topic of Ariel Helwani.
The lightweight fighter made some scathing comments towards the ESPN analyst, claiming he only cares about making money from his interviews with fighters and has little journalistic integrity. The UFC president, who has his own beef with the Canadian-American, rapturously agreed with Pimblett's claims.
Paddy Pimblett and Dana White went into Ariel Helwani for the fighters pay issue https://t.co/NMbRxQiWsR
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA's Andrew Whitelaw, Din Thomas admitted that he felt both Paddy Pimblett and Ariel Helwani each had a point. The 46-year-old also added that he wouldn't invite the British fighter onto his own shows:
"This is a situation where I think both guys are right. They both have a point. Depending on the type of media Ariel considers himself to be. If you're the news, you obviously don't pay people to come onto your show, you're the news...but if you're an outlet and you're making off of your show, that's a little different. I do the same thing, I have shows that I make money off of...Am I mad at Paddy for doing that? Absolutely not. Will I ever have him on one of my shows? Absolutely not."
Catch the full interview here:
Paddy Pimblett reacts to winning award for UFC London speech
Despite being under the cosh for his beef with Ariel Helwani, Paddy Pimblett is often praised for helping shed light on men’s mental health issues.
The 27-year-old went viral earlier this year at UFC London following his victory over Jordan Leavitt. During his post-fight interview, Pimblett shared a touching story about one of his friends who had very recently committed suicide. 'The Baddy' then pleaded with the crowd and to all those watching at home to talk to one another if they were struggling with similar issues.
UFC fighter Paddy Pimblett, after winning his fight, uses his post fight interview to give a heartfelt speech about mental health. https://t.co/OVejlsffay
His speech has now been awarded BT Sport's Fight Week Special award, and the 27-year-old thanked everybody for reaching out and hoped to continue to put an end to the stigma surrounding men's mental health:
"I wanna thank everyone for this award to be honest and for reaching out and speaking to me after everything that happened. Hopefully we could make the world a better place."
Pimblett added:
"Hopefully in the next few years, suicide isn't the biggest killer of men between 18 and 50, and my speech actually meant something. And that's what I'm hopeful for, that in the next few years that everything's different and suicide isn't looked the way that it is at the minute. Men's mental health and mental health in general is looked at in a much brighter way."
Catch Paddy Pimblett's reaction here:
A battle that no one should do alone 🤝
Well said Paddy ❤️ https://t.co/QM5xxAnhgF