LONDON – Jonny Parsons called out Paddy Pimblett after his Saturday win, but that’s actually not whom he intended to pick a fight against.
Parsons (9-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) was victorious in his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 224 in London with a second-round TKO of Danny Roberts (18-8 MMA, 7-7 UFC).
After the win, former middleweight champion Michael Bisping, now a UFC analyst, interviewed Parsons – and that’s when he fumbled the callout for Pimblett instead of Bellator free agent Michael Page, who was sitting cageside.
“To be 100 percent honest, I have legend Michael Bisping right here. He didn’t really ask me a question, he just put the mic in front of me and I kind of choked,” Parsons said at his UFC Fight Night 224 post-fight news conference. “Maybe at some point I’ll try to make my way to lightweight, but who I really wanted to call out was, I heard ‘MVP’ is a free agent and there were talks of him coming to the UFC to fight.
“I’d really like to come back to London and try to sleep a little better the next time. I don’t think ‘MVP’ can hang with the wrestlers in this division, so I would love to give the fans here in London at The O2 an awesome striking fight. I think me and ‘MVP’ can put on a show for the crowd, for sure.”
Page, one of Bellator’s biggest stars and an England native, recently revealed he fought out his contract and currently is exploring options.
Parsons not only is down to welcome Page to the UFC, but he’s also more than OK if he has to do it in enemy territory.
“I’ve been there before,” Parsons said. “The majority of my fights, my amateur career, were all in Las Vegas. They have a pretty solid amateur scene there. But once I went pro, they really don’t have any regional pro fights in Las Vegas to build your record. I was always going to other paces to fight, so I’m used to it. I fought in Hawaii twice, I fought in China, Thailand, other states. I’m used to going to enemy territory. This is what we do.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 224.
