Paddy praised the work of a Liverpool charity in the update
Paddy ‘the Baddy’ Pimblett has opened up on how a death in his family affected him as a child. The 29-year-old from Huyton is in training for his next fight after his victory in UFC 304 back in July.
Paddy is a very successful MMA fighter, losing only three of his 25 fights since making his fighting debut in 2012 and has become a major part of UFC since joining the promotion company. However, it hasn’t been an entirely straightforward journey to this point.
Paddy spoke to Liverpool social media star Ryan Hall, also known as StillRyan, for the first episode of his new podcast called the StillTalkingShow. Ryan, from Croxteth, has been creating content on a range of social channels for a number of years as part of his ‘Still Gang’ brand with an emphasis on positivity and is a close friend of Paddy.
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In the episode released on YouTube, they spoke about a post Ryan made on social media a few months ago where he talked about feeling lonely despite being in the public eye and always surrounded by others. Paddy argued the phrase ‘it’s lonely at the top’ resonated with him.
He said: “No one really understands the scenario you’re in. That’s why when you did put that up a couple of months ago I messaged you because I know exactly what you mean. Scousers, we look after our own, but not everyone can understand where you’re coming from and I could.”
When Ryan asked Paddy when he felt most lonely, the UFC star replied fight camp, where he has to shed weight and be in the best condition possible ahead of a fight. Paddy said: “It’s fight camp, even though I’m always surrounded by people. You’re lying in bed and you can’t sleep.
“It’s just you because you’re hungry, and you go home after the gym and try to nap but you’re just lying there, you can’t sleep (because of) how sore your body is. You’ve got to get up the next morning and climb out of bed and get in there, and do the exact same thing again. It’s rough. Fight camp’s a lonely place. And less than 1% of the world knows what it’s like.”
Paddy’s struggles came to a head a few years ago. He eventually chose to seek support from James’ Place, a Liverpool-based charity which supports people struggling with their mental health. Earlier this year, he donated £25,000 to the organisation.
Paddy said: “I was in a bad place years ago. I was waking up, crying my eyes out every day. I was thinking all mad thoughts in my head, as to the point of me being here still. I’ll never forget speaking to Chris about it, my boxing coach, and him saying to me, I felt a bit bad a few years ago, just speak to people, get it off your chest.
“I spoke to him about it, spoke to someone else about it, spoke to my bird about it. The next morning I woke up, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest.”
When asked if opening up about his feelings saved his life, Paddy said “it really could have”, adding: “Then obviously going and actually speaking to proper therapists in James’ place, that helped me tenfold as well.”
Paddy revealed he had been to counselling as a child after seeing his grandma die. He said: “Years ago when I was 12, I went to child bereavement counselling. I don’t think I’ve ever spoke about this on camera, but I went to child bereavement counselling when my grandma died.
“I watched her die and it does something to you. I learned how to open up a bit then but over the years where I ended up blowing up a bit, that probably went to the back of my mind – about actually speaking to people and getting it off your chest. It wasn’t on the priority list. Then, as I say, when I actually did speak to someone, my mental health just got so much better.”
