Paddy Pimblett Wants to Launch Charity Following UFC London Victory

London — Being honest, Paddy Pimblett was more interested in scarfing down a celebratory pizza — even one he admitted wasn’t very good — than anything else following his win at the O2 Arena as part of UFC London’s main card on Saturday.

That said, Paddy “the Baddy” was still high on the entire UFC London experience, from the walkout, to his first-round submission of Rodrigo “Kazula” Vargas.

“That was gangster. That was sick lad. I said what was going to happen, and it happened,” Pimblett (18-3) told journalists assembled backstage following the event. “I was a bit sh*t at the start, but I’m never in a boring fight, am I?”

By that, Pimblett is referring to being rocked early — something that has happened in both of his UFC bouts to date, not to mention a number of Cage Warriors contests. But in the end, as he often has, Pimblett found a way to win.

“I was put on this earth to do this. Entertain people, and beat people up,” he proclaimed Saturday. “It’s what I do, it’s what I’ve done for years. Been doing it ever since I was 15.”

“I’ve said it before, in a past life I was a gladiator in the coliseum, because I was just meant to do this.”

Despite the win, Pimblett doesn’t believe he’ll have silenced any of his critics. “The funny thing is that the haters are gonna hate still, like ‘aww you couldn’t even take him down, you got hit with a big punch, your defense is sh*t.’ But who won, know what I mean? Who won? It was me in the first round,” Pimblett stated. “Being on the same card as Molly [McCann] is always brilliant. We feed off each other’s energy. Watching her winning in the back, me going bananas in the back just spurred me on more to get the first round finish that I said was gonna.”

Throughout the week, comparisons were made between Pimblett and another UFC superstar, Conor McGregor. The hype didn’t stop there. On social media, the UFC referred to Pimblett as “the fifth Beatle.” While Pete Best might have something to say about that, it’s clear Pimblett’s star is on the rise. So how does he stay grounded?

“Because I’m from Liverpool lad. We’re not Tories, we don’t get ahead of ourselves. My city keeps me grounded,” he told Cageside Press. “I hope I do end up earning as much money as Conor McGregor, lad, then no child in my city will ever eat from a food bank ever again. I’m going to give back to my city, and something I’ve been planning on doing the past few months is starting my own charity, and I think after this fight I’m gonna get it done.”

Watch the full UFC London post-fight press scrum with Paddy Pimblett above. More coverage can be found below.