UFC chief Dana White has leapt to the defence of Paddy Pimblett, branding fans commenting abusive messages on his Instagram as "creeps".
The UFC boss recently appeared on Pimblett's podcast, and has a close relationship with the Brit who is fast becoming one of the promotion's biggest rising stars. However, the Scouse fighter upset fans during a disaster fight week for his last bout at UFC 282, and barely managed to sneak a decision victory against Jared Gordon in a difficult outing.
However, White has stayed a fan on Pimblett's and felt the need to interject on a recent post from the fighter, in which the pair were discussing an injury to former light-heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka. White appeared to stop himself mid-sentence when claiming that the UFC would pay for fighters' medical bills who are injured in camp, leading to fans mocking him in the comments.
White didn't respond to any one comment in particular, but said in his own message there was "Nothing but CREEPS on this whole thread." Pimblett's comments have become considerably more negative since UFC 282, when he won a controversial decision after a tumultuous fight week that divided opinion.
The fighter started the week by releasing a podcast with White in which he mocked people who are concerned about fighter pay as well as spending a large chunk of the show making fun of journalist Ariel Helwani. The reporter and Pimblett fell out over a request for an interview was met by requests for payment from the Brit's manager, which Helwani claims had never happened before.
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Pimblett and Helwani went back-and-forth through the media, with the reporter using his show The MMA Hour to explain the situation in detail. The fighter then took part in a number of interviews in the following days, insisting that he didn't care about the feud and continuing to joke about Helwani.
Fans chose their sides in the feud, and despite a major online backlash the T-Mobile Arena seemed to be packed full of Pimblett fans chanting for the Scouse fighter as he made his ring walk. But he lost even more good will when he struggled to a decision against Gordon, and refused to admit that the bout was even close after being awarded a controversial decision.
