Rising UFC lightweight Paddy Pimblett recently opened up about his infamous beef with MMA journalist Ariel Helwani. The two were once on good terms, with Pimblett appearing on Helwani’s show ‘The MMA Hour’ for interviews.
However, things took a sour turn when Helwani accused Paddy of demanding payment for an interview. Pimblett claimed that he had another paid interview scheduled and that Helwani wanted him to cancel it to appear on his show for free.
The situation escalated when Helwani revealed text messages and voicemails from Pimblett. In a recent interview with Sean Sheehan, Pimblett talked about the feud. He claimed that he had evidence on his phone that would clear his name.
Pimblett stated: “People turned on me for telling the truth about Ariel. It’s crazy… I’ve got all that [evidence] on me phone. This receipts thing is the maddest shout ever. The voice notes is the funniest because I said about coming to see him.”
“I don’t say on that voice note ‘I will come on The MMA Hour.’ I say, ‘what are you doing? Want to meet up?’ ‘Cause at the time, I actually thought of Ariel as a friend, but obviously, I was never a friend to him. He just saw me as a pound sign.”
Paddy Pimblett called Ariel Helwani derogatory names during the online argument, which he now regrets. He attributed his actions to the stress of cutting weight for his match against Jared Gordon.
Pimblett stated: “I’ve said this the other day, I shouldn’t have called him names. I shouldn’t of, but anyone who was in my position there would understand it. That was fight week, I was water loading… Any fighter will understand you do get a bit assy.”
“You can’t help it, you bite at people. So, when Ariel’s name got brought up, I shouldn’t have said nasty words.”
When asked whether he will talk to Helwani to settle the problem, Pimblett replied: “No, lad. He tried to assassinate me character. He’s tried to ruin my career.”
Pimblett’s last match took place in December 2022, where he defeated Jared Gordon to improve his UFC record to 4-0. Pimblett suffered from a serious ankle injury and was sidelined after surgery. Additionally, Pimblett said that he may not compete until next year given the prolonged rehabilitation period.
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