Paddy Pimblett breaks his silence as new footage emerges of him refusing to let go of choke despite rival tapping

Paddy Pimblett has broken his silence after it was claimed he 'refused to let go of a choke' during an unofficial bout with Dennis Frimpong.

The 30-year-old Liverpudlian, who currently competes in the UFC lightweight division, decided to squash an ongoing feud with Oktagon MMA fighter and longtime rival Frimpong at a gym in Manchester.

It appears the beef began when Frimpong responded to a fan who said they hoped to see Pimblett on the upcoming UFC London card in March.

After seeing the comment, Frimpong replied: "He won't be fit for the Vegas event let alone the London one."

Pimblett didn't take too kindly to the comment and a subsequent war of words followed. In fact, the exchange culminated in an agreement to put the matter to bed in an unofficial bout at Frimpong's Manchester Top Team gym.

Plenty of people turned up to watch the action unfold, meaning the spectacle was caught from different angles on multiple camera phones.

The footage shows Pimblett gradually taking control of the fight but the moment that's become the biggest talking point happened in the final seconds, when Pimblett applied a rear naked choke hold that forced Frimpong to tap.

However, the UFC fighter failed to let go of the choke before several onlookers intervened as tensions boiled over.

Now, the Huyton-born fighter has given his take on the incident, revealing that it was agreed beforehand that there would be no tapping.

“He agreed to no tapping beforehand," began Pimblett. "All you butthurt idiots who don’t know what you’re talking about just pipe down don’t talk when you don’t know the context."

He added: “Not my fault he tapped like a (dog) when he was saying he was going to KO me on the feet and got out struck."

Paddy Pimblett fought someone he had beef with on Instagram and wouldn’t let go of the submission 😳 pic.twitter.com/JMARgd005l

— Combat Casuals (@Combat_Casuals) January 18, 2025

After the scrap, it is believed Pimblett and Frimpong shared an embrace to signal an end to their feud.

Pimblett, who is currently 22-3, last fought against Bobby Green at UFC 304 in July last year.

Back in December, he revealed that a match-up is close to happening. "I'm sure you will see a fight announcement soon enough," he said. "I've said yeah, the opponent's said yeah. Just need to get stuff signed. ... I'll see you at the top."