Even though he was stepping into enemy territory, Jordan Leavitt was surprised by the amount of hostility he endured from Paddy Pimblett fans following his UFC London bout with the Liverpudlian.
Last week, Leavitt squared off with UK fan-favorite Paddy Pimblett in the UFC’s return to the O2 Arena for the second time in 2022. It was a big step up in competition for Pimblett who was making his third appearance inside the Octagon since his September 2021 debut. In the first round of the bout, it was clear that ‘The Baddy’ was facing some early adversity, but the Scouser was able to flip the script in round two, scoring a submission via rear-naked choke.
In an interview with The MMA-Holes on YouTube, Jordan Leavitt discussed the hostility he experienced while in London for the highly anticipated showdown with England’s newest MMA superstar.
“London was a bit lackluster … I expected hostility and I got more hostility than I bargained for. Yeah, I was very surprised by the negativity, it was so bad that it was funny. Like, I couldn’t help but think it was completely ridiculous because I was like ‘Yo, he’s just 2-0 in the UFC and you guys don’t even know me. Why are you so die hard over this, man?’”
Paddy Pimblett submits Jordan Leavitt in the second round at #UFCLondon
(via @SportsCenter) pic.twitter.com/XOPKiPQmNS
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) July 23, 2022
Jordan Leavitt Felt the Hype Behind His Fight with Paddy Pimblett was ‘Manufactured’
When Jordan Leavitt stepped into the Octagon at UFC London, he, like Paddy Pimblett, was on a two-fight win streak with the hopes of making it three. With both fighters being unranked and relative newcomers, Leavitt didn’t feel that the fight was as big as the UFC, and fans in the UK appeared to make it.
“They were all Paddy fanboys and everything, so it was more obnoxious as opposed to feeling cool. Because it’s almost like, if his attention was unwarranted, I definitely felt like my attention was unwarranted. So it’s not like I thought this fight was a big deal. And I didn’t think he was that big of a deal. So for me it all seemed kind of annoying because it all seemed so manufactured. So it was hard to feel excited about it.”
Clearly, Leavitt underestimated the popularity of Paddy Pimblett heading into the UFC London bout. While he has only made three appearances under the UFC banner, ‘The Baddy’ has earned a horde of fans thanks to his propensity for putting on exciting performances inside the cage and his over-the-top binge eating outside of the cage.