Paddy Pimblett has claimed defeated opponent Jordan Leavitt must still be "concussed" after he branded Liverpool a "dump".
Pimblett picked up his third consecutive UFC victory over Leavitt at London's O2 arena last month, by choking out his rival in the second round. The Liverpudlian was roared on by a raucous support from his hometown alongside teammate Molly McCann who also grew up in the area.
After the fight the pair showed signs of respect after chatting in the octagon, but things quickly turned sour with Leavitt making some distasteful comments in an interview. He told The MMA Holes : "The UK is the size of Alabama. That is very small and the fact that one of their guys in such a small part of the world is so popular.
"How can you not follow him, you know? He is from Liverpool. Liverpool is a dump. The O2 arena is also a dump." Pimblett has responded to the claims revealing he initially planned for the pair to share breakfast the morning after the clash. "The better man isn't he? Someone sent me it and I just started laughing," Pimblett told reporters when asked about his former rival's comments.
"I wanted to meet him for breakfast the following morning and give him a book I bought him, but not in a horrible way. And I was just going to say if you want to review it you are more than welcome to do it. It would probably get more clicks than his other book reviews just because I bought it.
"He has been going around and saying 'Liverpool is a dump' and all kinds of things like that. He must still be concussed from that knee to the head because he has never been to Liverpool. London is nothing like Liverpool."
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Tensions were high in the build-up to the fight with Pimblett and Leavitt holding an intense stare down before the fight at the weigh-in. Pimblett also promised to 'teabag' the UFC star which he later fulfilled after Leavitt vowed to 'twerk' on his rival if he had come out victorious.
It is another step in the right direction for Pimblett who is arguably the UFC's biggest rising star, and he is expected to next feature on a pay-per-view show. Despite being disappointed with his performance, Pimblett has claimed he could see the pressure etched in the face of his opponent, which saw him capitalise.
"I could see [the pressure] on his face when I was standing there at him," Pimblett said. "I could see it was going to him, I knew it got to him. That's why he tried to grapple straight away but I'll give him his due, he's a good grappler. I started putting a bit of pressure on him. He is a very unorthodox fighter, as I say I was going to out-weird him and I out-weirded him."
