Paddy Pimblett's next opponent, Jordan Leavitt, admits he intentionally riles up fans by twerking after his UFC wins.
Leavitt, 27, is scheduled to fight Pimblett at UFC London on July 23. The American was signed to the promotion in 2020 after impressing on the Contender Series and has since won three fights.
He gained popularity for twerking in the cage after his split decision win against Trey Ogden in April. Leavitt said that at first he did the move as a joke, but has stuck to it after seeing the hate he got on social media from fans.
"I think it's really funny that what this fight is being promoted off of is 'fatboy' vs 'twerker'. We are hyping up the fight, but maybe not in the best way. At first, I kind of shook my butt as a joke once or twice but then I saw how much hate I got for it," he told Mirror Fighting.
"Then I saw how much hate I got for it, so I am kind of just trolling at this point and doing it just to annoy people. Especially when I'm in a bad mood already whilst cutting weight, I read messages that I think are fan-mail but it's actually hate-mail like 'you're getting knocked out, you suck'
"It's okay if I make these people a little bit angry, it doesn't matter too much. At this point I'm just trolling, the twerking will be behind me some day but right now I've still got to p*** off a few more people."
A self-admitted 'nerd', Leavitt thinks he receives a lot of hate because he doesn't fit the usual fighter archetype. 'The Monkey King' has welcomed the role of a 'dancing weird guy' and said that the anonymity of social media is what allows people to get away with hateful comments.
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"I think it's because of the anonymous nature of social media," he added. "Nobody has ever given me hate when the picture is not like Islam Makhachev or some anime girl, talking crap about how it's disrespectful saying 'if I was in your position I wouldn't do that'.
"A lot of people have hate in their hearts and they'll find anything, if I did nothing after I won they'd say I was boring and they'd hate me for being boring. People like to be hateful and angry with no consequences, they try to find a reason to be upset. They don't feel comfortable with my demeanour because it doesn't match the fighter moulds."
