Paddy Pimblett features in the JD Family campaign, which is a celebration of giving, togetherness and chosen connection. To celebrate the JD Family Christmas campaign, VIPER caught up with Paddy the Baddy on the set of the campaign, here’s our interview…

Growing up in Liverpool, what was your earliest memory of JD seeing the brand? 

My earliest memory of JD was seeing the yellow bags everywhere, especially at Christmas time, with everyone shopping. That’s one of my first memories of JD, going and getting a tracksuit at Christmas and a pair of trainers. I’d get a nice new tracksuit that had to last for the next year. 

If one of your daughters wanted to be an MMA fighter, would you be ok with that? 

Laura wouldn’t but I don’t mind whatever they want to do, as long as they don’t go into the adult film industry. If she wants to be the next Meatball Molly, she can be, “Meatball Margot.” Laura obviously doesn’t want them to fight because she goes through enough stress watching me and she wouldn’t want to watch her daughter. Even if we have sons, I don’t think she’ll let them. But, Margot’s going to do Jiu-Jitsu. 

Is Jiu-Jitsu a gateway to MMA, or what did you start with? 

I started doing MMA. One of the lads put a fight on the TV in the youth club when we were 14, Diego Sanchez versus Clay Guida. They warred with each other, punching each other in the face and I thought, I need to have a go with this. Then I watched my first live show in January 2010 at four or five in the morning. I went for a run after and decided I needed to give it a go. I started training on January 20th 2010, I only know that because I got new minutes that day on my phone. As we say, the rest is history, I started training and fell in love with it. Four weeks in, I said, “I want to be a fighter.” Obviously when I told my Mum and Dad, at first they said, “What? Sort your head out, what are you doing?” When I told teachers, they said, “stay in school.” But I always believed in it. 

Was it more of an American sport when you started? 

At that time people didn’t know what MMA was, it was called cage fighting. Still to this day, people don’t call it MMA, people call it UFC but that’s like calling football, “the Barclays Premier League.” It’s good for me because everyone watches the UFC. 

How do you celebrate your victories and how do you cope with your losses?
It’s been a while since I’ve lost but coping with a loss, you just sit indoors and cry. I remember being very depressed after the last fight I lost because I should have won, but you’ve got to pick yourself up and come back. I just get back in the gym, that’s what I’ve done every time. But when I win I generally just go and get fat, fat and happy. I go and put on some weight, because I’ve been on a strict diet for eight weeks. I’m not that big of a drinker so I’ll go and enjoy food. I also like to go on holiday with Laura and the kids. 

What separates you from other fighters in your division? 

No one else has a personality, that’s what separates me from the others. A lot of people have said to me, I’ve got that It-Factor that a lot of people haven’t. In this sport, a lot of people are very conservative and don’t say much. I don’t put on an act for anyone like some fighters do, I’m just me. Some people seem to like it, some people seem to hate it, we get on with it. People say I’m a showman, even Dana White, the president of the UFC, says it. That’s just me, I can’t help it. That’s the way I feel when I’m in the cage, I’m the same in the gym. What you see is what you get, a lot of people love it and like the way I am. A lot of people hate it but as I always say, whether you love me or you hate me you’ll be watching, that’s all that matters. 

Your personality must attract more people to the sport. 

A couple of weeks ago me and Laura went for a walk with the babies and a woman pulled over and got out of the car. She must have been in her 50’s or 60’s, she started talking to us and saying, “I love you!” It’s different nowadays, people didn’t even know what MMA was five or six years ago. Now it’s mainstream thanks to Conor McGregor, he played a big part. 

Is there a memorable moment, any of your fights that really stands out to you? 

When I was younger I won a world title at Cage Warriors so that stands out, but my favourite one probably is when I fought Alexis Savvidas. I Flying Triangled him then jumped over the cage. All of my mates were in the front row and I jumped in the crowd with them. That brings the best memories back, obviously there’s also fighting in the UFC and Manchester and London. But that moment when I jumped over and saw all of my mates, that was probably the best feeling I’ve ever had. 

What does family mean to you? 

Family means a lot to me. I’ve got my actual family and then my mates who I grew up with that I’m still friends with now. There’s a big gang of us who I consider family, Uncle Jack, Uncle Sam, Uncle Maz, Uncle Cuba, Uncle Wade. All of them are going to be uncles to my kids. Same with my gym family, I always say Paul’s like my second dad. Everyone in the gym’s like my brother or sister and they’re all going to be Uncle Adam, Uncle Ellis, Auntie Molly. Family is a big thing where we come from in Liverpool, especially our own family. 

How do you typically celebrate Christmas? 

I don’t think our Christmas with the twins is going to be much different from previous years, apart from waking up with the kids. They’re only going to be eight months old so they don’t even know what Christmas is, it’s just another day. They’ll be thinking, “Where’s the milk?” They’re not going to be bothered by Christmas. We go to both our mum’s and dad’s. Some years I’ve had two roast dinners because we’ll go to Laura’s mum’s and have our roast around two or three o’clock. Then, my mum does hers around six o’clock, a late one. So sometimes if I get hungry again by six, I have another. Loads of people come to ours, so my mum does a buffet. The carrots and everything are in metal trays like you’re at Toby’s Carvery. It’s mum’s way of avoiding having to put it all on the plate. I normally have a roast at Laura’s mum’s now instead, because hers is on the plate ready to go. 

If you could pick one thing from JD and Under Armour under the tree for you this year, what would it be?
Definitely an Under Armour tracksuit but now that I’ve seen the kids stuff, it’s going to be that. The twins look great in the little Under Armour suits so I’d love more baby stuff under the tree, because they look so cute in them. 

What are your long-term goals in MMA? 

Obviously my goal was always to be a UFC World Champion. I always say if you’re doing this sport and you don’t think you’re gonna be the World Champion, you’re in the wrong game. If you don’t believe in yourself 100% then go and do a team sport where you can get carried by other people. Because If you don’t think you can be a World Champion, I don’t know what you’re doing in this sport. In five years I hope to either be a World Champion or I’ve already been the World Champion. It would be nice to retire in five years because I’ll be 34 then so it would be nice to spend more time with my kids. Dan Henderson fought until he was 48. Some people fight until that age, I won’t be. The latest I’ll be fighting is 40, Laura wants me to retire in three years but that’s not happening. 

That’s really great advice about fighting to win. 

If you want to do anything, you’ve got to want to be the best at it no matter what it is. A tarmacer or a joiner or a roofer, whatever you’re doing you should want to be the best at it. You shouldn’t want to just go and make up the numbers. Even more so in sports, just playing to be part of playing. I wouldn’t want to be a tennis player and get into the third or fourth round of each tournament. No, you want to win the Grand Slam; that’s the way I look at my sport. 

What advice would you give your 16 year old self?
Listen to people more, when I was younger I used to think I knew best. When you get older and you mature, you realise that everyone around you has good advice and they’re not saying stuff for no reason. I would say listen to my coaches and my family a bit more. 

What’s the importance of giving back to your community? 

When I speak about Liverpool, I always say we look after our own. That’s your community, your family, your friends, your neighbourhood. That’s what we do, everyone looks after each other in Liverpool. When you’re younger you don’t look at your family as much as when you do now. When you have kids, you realise how big and how important your family is to you. I’ve got friends who are family, I’ve got my gym who are family and I’ve got my family; we all look after each other. It’s not just the people you know that you look after in Liverpool, if you hear someone talk and they’re a scouser, you do whatever you can to look after them. 

How do you bring that spirit of community into your sports as well? 

MMA isn’t exactly known for its community because we’re punching each other in the face but at the same time, it’s always very respectful. Nine times out of ten when you’re fighting someone, you don’t hate them. You don’t want to hurt them, but you want to win so MMA is a very respectful sport. The thing with community and MMA is, you’re with those people every day. I probably spend more time in the gym with my teammates than I do with my mum and dad. I’m not with them more than with Laura though. In fight camp you’re with your gym family more than anyone else, they get to know you better than anyone else does. That’s why I always say it’s like a family, it’s not just training partners and people that you know from training, you end up becoming family. You’ve got to trust these people to make sure you’re not getting your head punched in when you get in the cage. 

Have your daughters had any effect on your Paddy the Baddy image? 

I don’t think so personally, but people from the outside probably would think that. I’m just me, what you see is what you get, it’s never going to change. I was always the same person, I’ve just got two daughters now that I’ve got to look after. It makes me more driven and more vicious in the cage because I’m now putting food on the table for them. I feel like I’ve got an extra bit of motivation. 

It’s probably made you even more relatable to your fans. 

Yeah, I’m even more relatable now because they know what it’s like having to struggle with two kids. Saying that, some people don’t know. They know what it’s like with one but with the two of them, it’s rough. When they’re both screaming at one time down both ears and you’ve got hold of them and you’re bouncing them like, “come on, it’s okay.” They’re just crying, wow! People will never understand until it happens to them. It’s not even like we had a child first. I think it’d be easier though having two first because if you’d had one and then two, it would be a shock to the system. But all we ever know is having two, when we have one kid it’s going to be easy. 

Do you have any Christmas traditions? 

When I was growing up, we didn’t open one present on Christmas Eve. We would wake up on Christmas morning and go downstairs. I’ve got a brother and sister but my sister’s 11 years older and my brother’s five and a half years older than me so there were big gaps between us. 

Did they ruin it for you?. 

I can’t remember but they probably did at a young age. I said to Laura we’re going to have to tell them Father Christmas isn’t real and I bought all the presents. She said, “you can’t do that!” But they need to learn the value of money, it’s not some big fat fella riding in on a reindeer and buying you something. It doesn’t work like that, it’s coming out of my pocket. Laura won’t let me so I’ll have to wait until they’re a little older. But they’re going to have the Internet so they’ll probably know by the time they’re seven. 

What’s the most meaningful Christmas gift you’ve received? 

Years ago my mum and dad got me a necklace with my nan and grandma’s faces on. That’s the most meaningful thing. 

What have been your favourite Under Armour trainers to wear this year? 

I got a black pair with a white sole, the Infinite Elite. They’re running trainers with a white soul and black on top with black laces. They’re so comfy and you can run in them as well. 

What has been your favourite outfit too? 

Under Armour do some pants, not a full tracksuit but they’re like pants with combat pockets on and they’re brilliant. I need pockets, I can’t go out in anything without pockets with zips, I’ll just lose everything. I hate pockets without zips, it really irritates me. So my essential items are zips or I lose everything.