Paddy Pimblett broke down in tears after making a heartbreaking tribute to his late friend at UFC London.
Pimblett has become an inspirational star for many as his UFC rise continues and won his third consecutive fight at London's O2 arena last month with a second-round submission of Jordan Leavitt. Shortly after his victory, Pimblett made an emotional speech dedicating his performance to one of his best friends Ricky who had taken his own life just days before his win.
The speech was hugely powerful as he encouraged men to speak out and express their feelings in a rousing call. He left the octagon in tears after the victory with Liverpool's You'll Never Walk Alone ringing around the arena in support. In his recent YouTube video, Pimblett revealed the moment he arrived backstage after his win while bursting in tears once again.
Pimblett can be seen hugging a number of people from his team during his exit, before the final hug sees him burst into tears as the emotions from the day catch up with him. It is a sombre moment in the video, with Pimblett later making another brave plea in the dressing room, where he said: "There’s no real words that can describe it.
“He was one of the happiest kids that you’ll ever meet, Slick Rick. He was the life and soul of the party. People like that think that they can’t speak to other people. They think ‘oh he’ll think I’m a little b**** if I speak to him and say that to him. I’ve had to do it. People look up to me and think that I’m the strongest person on earth because I get in the cage and fight with people when the battle’s up here.
"People don’t understand what’s going on, you can look like the happiest person in the world from the outside but in here, you might be struggling. People need to talk more, people need to break this stigma of men’s mental health. Talk, get it off your chest.”
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Pimblett showed a more expressive and emotional side on the night in comparison to his usual brash and comical personality, which appealed to huge audiences around the world and went viral. His viral interview has also reportedly seen an increase of 22 per cent in men reporting their mental health issues after his incredible UFC post-fight speech.
The Liverpudlian has since revealed that he has been contacted by over 100 mental health charities about becoming an ambassador since the victory. “I’ve been asked to be the ambassador for over 100 charities, literally,” Pimblett told reporters. "I wish I could do it for every single one of them, I really do.
"I’m going to instead get my own mental health charity sorted, which will be set up in the next few months. I just want to help people. It’s nice to be nice. A lot of people in the position that I’m in don’t believe in that which is just crazy to me.”
