Iverpool’s Paddy Pimblett electrified the crowd UFC London with a second-round win over Jordan Leavitt before making an emotional appeal to men to talk about their feelings after his friend’s suicide death.
The flamboyant lightweight sank into a naked constriction at the back to beat Leavitt before stepping on the microphone and revealing that he had received a phone call telling him his friend had passed away on Friday morning, five hours before he weighed himself.
“There’s a stigma in this world that men can’t talk – listen, if you’re a man and your shoulders are hurting… please talk to someone, talk to someone,” an emotional Pimblett told the crowd. “Please, let’s get rid of this stigma, and men – start talking,
The 27-year-old, who has racked up three consecutive wins since joining the UFC, left the cage to join the crowd with the tensions of “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, a song synonymous with his favorite football club Liverpool. to sing.
Tom Aspinall suffered a bizarre knee injury after a matter of seconds in the UFC London main event
/ Getty ImagesLeavitt gave Pimblett some serious problems on the first lap, but in the second, Liverpool’s attacks started to tell and a knee to the head dropped the American, allowing Pimblett to take his back and secure the finish.
It was the second explosive end to a night that originated on Merseyside, when Molly “Meatball” McCann earlier on the main card flyweight Liverpool pulled a signature twisting elbow to knock down Hannah Goldy en route to a TKO win.
Despite the emotion of those two wins, the evening ended on the back burner when Briton Tom Aspinall suffered a serious knee injury seconds into his heavyweight clash with Curtis Blaydes.
Aspinall landed a heavy leg kick before falling back into the center of the octagon with his right knee clamped, with the American awarding the win by TKO as his opponent was unable to continue.