UFC rising star Paddy Pimblett has defended Liverpool fans who booed the national anthem at the FA Cup Final, claiming people "know" the reason.
Jurgen Klopp's hugely-successful side completed their domestic cup double with victory over Chelsea in the 141st staging of the FA Cup Final yesterday, prevailing 6-5 on penalties after honours were even after extra time. The Reds' supporters at the west end of Wembley Stadium were heard loudly booing during the traditional anthems which have been part of the build-up to the showpiece event since 1927.
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge was also on the receiving end of jeers during both God Save The Queen and Abide with Me. And Pimblett has hit back at ex-footballer Curtis Woodhouse who criticised the reasoning behind the fans actions, tweeting: "The embarrassing thing is you know exactly why it gets done you are just coming on here to tweet about it for a reaction like a six year old kid, badly need to grow up you, you know fella."
The 27-year-old later continued: "Why are you even questioning why we boo it then? If you understood you wouldn't even be asking that question. Leading Politicians moved quickly to condemn the actions of the supporters inside the national stadium including House of Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle, who wrote: "I utterly condemn any fans who booed Prince William at Wembley today.
"The FA Cup final should be an occasion when we come together as a country. It should not be ruined by a minority of fans' totally shameful behaviour. In this year of all years – the Queen's Platinum Jubilee – this is dreadful." Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey also had his say: "We have the most wonderful Monarch and those fans who booed do not represent their clubs or our country."
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Pimblett is a lifelong Liverpool fan and regularly records himself attending the matches for his YouTube channel. He was not present at Wembley but watched from the States where he has been on a whistle-stop PR tour with fellow Liverpudlian Molly McCann.
Liverpool won the FA Cup for an eighth time with Klopp's side now set to continue battling for Premier League glory before a European conquest reaches its climax with a Champions League Final against Real Madrid on May 28. Meanwhile Pimblett will be looking for a resumption of his successful UFC career later this year.
The rising star recorded his latest victory after choking out Kazula Vargas in the opening round of his second outing with the promotion at UFC London. Since the star has ballooned in weight having stepped on the scales at 200lbs after a junk-food binge following his victory.
He is expected to make a return later this year with the promotion staging another event in the UK on July 23 with teammate McCann also in action on the card.
