UFC star Paddy Pimblett has admitted he can't resist replying to trolls on social media and insists it doesn't get in the way of his fight preparations.
Pimblett, who takes on Jordan Leavitt at UFC London this Saturday, often shares his views to social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter and is constantly met with abuse from fans. 'The Baddy' infamously called out Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg after his last win and labelled him the biggest "bully" in the world.
With many fans telling Pimblett he should use the time he spends arguing with fans on something more important, he explained why he replies to his critics. “I can’t help it, it’s just one of those things. People say ‘oh you shouldn’t give them your time’ but I’ll use to Twitter to pass time. You think I just sit there in my room thinking about Jordan Leavitt? I don't know need to, I'm going to punch his head in anyway," he said.
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"It's crazy the amount of abuse I get on Twitter, it used to be Instagram but that's boiled down a bit. I love putting trolls in their places. Once a day there's always a horrible fella calling scousers victims and saying it's 'never their fault'. They know what they're talking about, it's a Hillsborough jibe."
Pimblett cited former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson 's comments about social media making people "too comfortable" with disrespecting people and not getting punched for it, as he added: "Like Mike Tyson said, people think with social media that you don't get punched anymore. What you say on the internet you can get punched in the face for, simple as.”
The Liverpudlian's love-hate relationship with social media was also shown after his UFC debut last September. Following his first-round knockout of Luigi Vendramini, Pimblett called out Instagram for suspending his account: "I'm not really calling anyone out, I just want to call out a company. Instagram, give me my account back, you lizards," he said.
Pimblett lost his 750,000 Instagram followers after his UFC debut for "“violating community rules", with his Twitter account later suffering the same fate. 'The Baddy' has previously criticised social media platforms for giving trolls more support than content creators. The UFC star said he often reports hateful comments on his page only for no action to be taken by Instagram and Twitter.
