Miami — The UFC 314 pre-fight press conference turned out to be a little more interesting than most.
If this was a “what did we learn?” type of story, well, for starters, Bryce Mitchell has apparently killed a lot of dogs. On the “crazy things Bryce has said” scale, that still only registers about a four, and since he clarified it was about his farm, well, we’ll just leave his “they all squeal before they die” line as a particularly gruesome bit of trash talk from a man who pinky swears he has no hate in his heart.
That’s not one of those articles however. Rarely do we learn much from UFC press conferences. There’s some banter, usually cringe-worthy, a few face-offs, and occasionally the need to separate a couple of fighters who almost certainly aren’t about to risk a payday to throw two or three punches on stage.
Thursday was different. Mitchell and Silva’s grudge match aside, Diego Lopes and Yair Rodriguez got into it, appearing genuinely irate at one another over allegations that Rodriguez teammate Marco Beltran, a former UFC fighter himself, was jumped by Lopes’ crew (with Lopes responding that Beltran had threatened a girl on his own team). Much of that was screamed and hollered in Spanish, with even translator extraordinaire Fabiano Buskei struggling to keep up.
And once cooler heads prevailed, there was still Jon Anik’s pick for Fight of the Night at UFC 314, Michael Chandler vs. Paddy Pimblett, featuring two stars with no shortage of personality.
Pimblett has claimed that Scousers (that’s folks from Liverpool, for those unaware) don’t get knocked out. Ergo, Paddy “The Baddy” does not get knocked out. Never has. “I’ve got so many different ways that I can win this fight. Everyone thinks I’m going to get knocked out because I leave my chin high, but I told you, this chin is made of granite lad,” exclaimed Pimblett, who is already one of the biggest British stars the UFC has featured. “I’m not getting knocked out, I’ve never been knocked out before, but Mike has, and I’ll do it again on Saturday.”
“He hasn’t been knocked out yet, but he also hasn’t hasn’t been knocked out by these,” Chandler said later, raising his fist. “Jefferson county javelins. The son of Mike Chandler Sr., a union carpenter for all those years. When I hit people, they go to sleep!”
Michael Chandler also took a swipe at Paddy’s “jingle,” the “Oh, Paddy the Baddy” chant that fans sing on his way out and during fights. “I don’t need a jingle to try to sell myself. You know who has jingles? Second-rate car insurance salesmen, ambulance chasers, and fast food. I’m the real deal, and the real deal don’t need a jingle.”
Despite the one-liners and mic drop moments, Chandler vs. Pimblett has had a cordial, respectful build-up ahead of UFC 314 — but there is absolutely no way this one will be a boring fight.
