An internet troll has backed out of meeting Paddy Pimblett at his gym after making a violent threat to the UFC star on social media.
Pimblett will return to the octagon this weekend when he takes on Jordan Leavitt at UFC London on Saturday. The Liverpudlian is known for showing his personality on social media, but one user took exception to his brash persona and began mocking him.
The troll then made a threat of violence to the Liverpudlian which saw many other fans leap to Pimblett's defence. The UFC star then offered his address for the pair to fight in response, tweeting: "Come down the gym then mate? 78 Kempston Street, Next Generation you're more than welcome to try it." The troll initially agreed to travel to Pimblett's gym where he has been training for his third professional outing.
However it appears the potential fight meeting will no longer take place, with the troll tweeting: "Paddy I am not going to travel down to meet you today. Thought about it all of last night and it would be totally irresponsible of me as a parent to travel down to meet you. We have obviously made it public what time we would meet up and I wouldn't put it past a nut job to have a crack at me or worse on the way down to see you.
"I apologise if you have changed any schedule or made arrangements for me to come down. Fully expect a mouth full of abuse from you after sending this and that is fine." Pimblett then issued a final response, adding: "We all knew you wouldn’t turn up anyway mate. Very irresponsible parent talking s*** on the internet just to make yourself look like a fool."
Pimblett's initial plan was liked by as many as up to 300 fans on social media, with many enjoying his response to the troll's attempt at confronting a rising UFC star. The 27-year-old is subject to constant abuse on his social media platforms and frequently responds to trolls including those who have criticised his hometown football club Liverpool.
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Fans have often accused Pimblett of wasting his time addressing the attention of trolls, as opposed to focusing on his MMA career. However Pimblett has fired back at those critics explaining how he uses social media to pass his spare time. “I can’t help it, it’s just one of those things," Pimblett explained. "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. "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."
