Liverpool’s own, Paddy Pimblett returns this weekend at UFC 296 to take on the biggest test of his career as he clashes with the former interim champion, Tony Ferguson.
Ahead of his fifth UFC fight, The Baddy featured on ‘JaackMate’s Happy Hour’ podcast and discussed a range of topics, but one that stood out was when he spoke about in-depth was his own struggles with mental health.
He said that after his unsuccessful Cage Warriors Vacant Lightweight Championship bout with Soren Bak in September 2018 he really struggled. Talking about the fallout of that bout he stated:
“I went into a deep depression and that, do you know what I mean. Sitting in my room contemplating whether I should even be on the earth anymore”
This was also a reaction after he had five straight fights cancelled and had to sit out for over a year.
Pimblett also discussed how he got through the mental battle, putting:
“It wasn’t easy like. You’ve just got to; all the good people around me, you know what I mean, my team, my family, my mates, you know what I mean. Without them I’m not even sure, I don’t even know if I’d still be here to be honest”
Podcast host, Jaackmate quizzed him about why Pimblett is so open about his mental health and men’s mental health in general and he came back with:
“I always say it lad, I’m just me, you know what I mean. I’m just honest, I just say it how it is.”
Pimblett is set to compete in the toughest fight of his career when he takes on Ferguson. His last outing, over a year ago against Jared Gordon wasn’t convincing. He edged out a narrow split decision victory, however, it’s worth noting that he was injured in the first round and managed to see out the full 15 minutes.
Will he get his hand raised on Saturday night at UFC 296? Only time will tell.
