UFC star Paddy Pimblett has told of how he "never feared for his safety" more than attending the Champions League final in Paris last weekend.
The Scouse fighter has burst onto the scene as one of the most exciting newcomers to the MMA promotion, and was enjoying one last trip before fight camp starts for his octagon return this summer. But he was left terrified after watching fans have their tickets stolen while gangs ran around the stadium with some holding machetes and other weapons.
Pimblett was speaking to RMC Sport Combat when he told his story of attending the match, which was delayed by over half-an-hour over issues outside the ground before the game. He claims that it got even worse afterwards, with minimal police presence leading the night to feel like horror film The Purge .
“When we came out of that ground there was groups of 30 men running around in big packs and some of them had weapons, some of them had machetes, knives, bars, bats, and stuff like that,” Pimblett said in an interview about the event.
“You just had to try and get away from the ground but people were getting pinned to the floor and getting their watch taken off them."
Pimblett was one of the thousands of fans who spent a considerable amount of time trying to get into the stadium, having got a legitimate ticket in advance. He claims that he witnessed robberies of people's tickets, as well as a crush of people trying to get in the tunnel of the 81,388-seater venue.
“Even before the game, I saw a few tickets getting snatched, people running away with tickets,” he continued. “Obviously, getting in was bad with the police tear-gassing everyone.
“The little sections we had to get through to the ground was ridiculous, they were squashing thousands and thousands of people in between little gaps, and when we asked the police what was going on they were just laughing at us."
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Pimblett compared the post-match atmosphere to The Purge , a horror film where all crime is allowed for a brief period once a year. "I’ve never been so scared for my own safety and the people around me as I was when I came out of that ground on Saturday night.
"I saw people with machetes running around. The only thing I can compare it to is the movie The Purge where you can do what you want for 12 hours. There was no laws for 12 hours you could do what you want.”
The UFC will make their French debut in September, but Pimblett won't be joining the card after insisting that he will never be back to Paris following his experience. He is currently preparing to face Jordan Leavitt in his third UFC fight at The O2 arena in London on July 23.
UEFA apologised for the scenes outside the match, saying in a statement: “UEFA wishes to sincerely apologise to all spectators who had to experience or witness frightening and distressing events in the build-up to the UEFA Champions League final at the Stade de France… No football fan should be put in that situation, and it must not happen again.”
