Paddy Pimblett says RAF is 'good for dickheads like Arman who need the publicity'

Pimblett told Joe Rogan he would not do wrestling or grappling matches outside MMA. Tsarukyan faces Neiman Gracie at RAF Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Paddy Pimblett has called Arman Tsarukyan a "wanker" and said wrestling in Real American Freestyle (RAF) is "good for dickheads like Arman who need the publicity because no one likes him".

Pimblett was speaking to Joe Rogan on JRE MMA Show #188, released on Wednesday, the same episode in which he argued against a ban on oblique kicks. Rogan said that for "a guy like Bo Nickal, who is right now one of the top contenders in the middleweight division", wrestling in RAF carried "a real possibility that you could blow a knee out".

"I wouldn't do anything like that," Pimblett said. He went on: "I'm an MMA fighter first and foremost, so I'm not gonna go and do some grappling thing or some wrestling thing or anything like that." He said he did not understand why fighters did it, and that "it gives away part of your game".

"I'm a fighter at the end of the day. I want to be an MMA fighter, I want to be UFC champion, so I'm not gonna go and do other shit," he said.

Then he turned to Tsarukyan. "It's good for dickheads like Arman who need the publicity because no one likes him. You know what I mean? It's good for people like that," Pimblett said. Asked by Rogan, "You don't think people like him?", he replied: "No, he's a wanker." Rogan said: "I like him. I'm sorry, I do." Pimblett answered: "Little daddy's boy, lad."

Rogan said Tsarukyan grew up wealthy, does not have to fight for the rest of his life and "still is world-class". Pimblett agreed on that, "No, he's world-class", but added: "I didn't think he looked good in that fight though." When Rogan said, "He knocked him out in the first round," Pimblett replied: "Couldn't take him down."

Tsarukyan's last UFC fight was a first-round knockout of Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331 in September. He has wrestled in RAF since, beating Dillon Danis by 10-0 technical fall at RAF 14 in Las Vegas in October, and faces Neiman Gracie at RAF Abu Dhabi at the Etihad Arena on Saturday, the same day as UFC 334.

Tsarukyan has said that if lightweight champion Justin Gaethje retires, he could take on Pimblett and Ilia Topuria on the same night: "I can fight both of them. Same night."

READ NEXTArman Tsarukyan on Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria: 'I can fight both of them. Same night'Read the next story →

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