UFC London: Paddy Pimblett beats Jordan Leavitt via submission after Molly McCann records first-round TKO
Pimblett recorded his 19th career win before honouring his late friend Ricky; fellow Liverpudlian Molly McCann continued her form with another spinning elbow on her way to victory over Hannah Goldy.
Monday 25 July 2022 13:02, UK
Paddy Pimblett rocked the O2 Arena on Saturday night as he beat Jordan Leavitt with a second-round submission to continue his ascent as one of the most popular characters in the MMA world.
"The Baddy", who became the first person to stop Leavitt in the American's career, improved his record to 19-3 after submitting his opponent with a rear-naked choke.
Pimblett subsequently paid tribute to his friend Ricky, who committed suicide two days ago, as well as young fan Lee - who died of leukaemia recently. He was featured on the shirt worn by Molly McCann upon arrival.
"I want to dedicate this fight to little baby Lee, he's a little warrior, more of a fighter than any of us will ever be," he said.
"I woke up on Friday morning at 4am to a message that one of my friends had [died]. So Ricky lad, that's for you.
"There's a stigma in this world that men can't talk. Listen, if you're a man, please speak to someone, speak to anyone. I'd rather my mate cry on my shoulder than go to his funeral next week."
From the first bell, Leavitt had been keen to draw on his wrestling strengths to combat the power of Pimblett. However, it was the star from Liverpool who ended the opening round on top after threatening the guillotine multiple times - as well as the rear naked choke.
A similar theme continued into the second until Pimblett landed a knee to the head before pouncing on the opening to this time to lock in the rear naked choke successfully.
McCann produces emphatic KO
Earlier in the night, McCann produced a first-round TKO victory in her women's flyweight bout against Hannah Goldy.
That makes it three straight wins for the Liverpudlian.
The crowd favourite had threatened a repeat of her spinning elbow knockout against Luana Carolina in March when she made contact with the same move to rock Goldy.
From there, she sought to capitalise with a flurry of punches to pin her opponent against the fence before putting her on the canvas and forcing the referee to step in.
"I don't know if I've ever seen this in combat sport - the UK getting behind female athletes," said McCann during her post-fight interview. "It's those walkouts - it's that energy which gets you finishes.
"I will not let you down, I'm not Everton Football Club.
''Have you ever seen lighting strike twice?"
There were also wins for fellow Brits Jai Herbert, Muhammad Mokaev, Nathaniel Wood and Marc Diakiese during the preliminaries.
Winning big
Backing Pimblett and McCann has been lucrative for some of their supporters. The musician Drake - reportedly by his own account has won more than £3 million betting on the two Liverpudlians to both win on Saturday's UFC event in London.
Drake posted on his Instagram account that he had staked almost $2.3 million on the pair to win their respective bouts, to receive a payout of $3.7 million.
He's subsequently promised "Rollies [Rolexes] for Meatball and the Baddy."
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