Kazula Vargas can’t help but feel annoyed by his opponent Paddy Pimblett.
The UFC lightweight is not on board with some of the antics and things said by Pimblett (17-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) ahead of their fight on the main card of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 204 in London. And it’s not necessarily what Pimblett has said about Vargas (12-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC), but about other situations outside of their business this weekend.
Pimblett got into an altercation with Georgian fighter Ilia Topuria earlier in the week in the fighter host hotel in London. The scuffle stemmed from an online feud where Pimblett poked fun at the Russo-Georgian War, which Topuria didn’t take kindly.
Mexico’s Vargas think Pimblett’s comments and actions following the event are childish.
“At first, I didn’t really want to judge him,” Vargas told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “That’s his character and in this business you have to multi-faceted and you need to have a persona, well, some people, not everyone – but right now having persona is the fad.
“But to be honest, I see him as a child. He’s a 28-year-old child. In my country, a 28-year-old is already a man. You’re already in another path, you’re in a different path of maturity. I think he’s a child. He says things that go beyond the fight, that go beyond promoting the fight and the business aspect of it. Those things go far beyond that and says things that can be perceived as racist and other delicate subjects, which unfortunately exist today and unfortunately affect people who don’t even know who he is.
“There’s people with bigger problems, people fighting for their lives,” Vargas continued. “So to comment on that in such a stupid way, it’s truly surprising that he’s living in another world and he’s only interested in what the media says. It’s very vain. Like why make those dumb comments? Why because he he feels like he needs a lot of followers?”
Vargas wasn’t far from the incident between Pimblett and Vargas. He was supposed to be signing posters along side Topuria. The 36-year-old recalls Topuria being upset following the scuffle and said Topuria wished him luck and asked him to “beat the sh*t out of him.”
“I was just a few meter away,” Vargas explained. “I was signing posters and Ilia came in, that’s actually the first time we meet. So when he came in, because we were supposed to sign posters together, I was actually already finishing and he came in late because of that (fight). He was still unsettled because of the scuffle. I saw the video, people showed it to me and I was just like, ‘What the f*ck.’ It’s not professional.
“Let’s say something would’ve happened and the fight would’ve fallen through. Me as a fighter, I’m calling my manager and saying that’s not my problem and that I need to get paid or they need to find me another fighter. I already did the work.
“It’s so stupid. Even the all the people from London who paid very expensive tickets to watch him, that all goes to waste. Why? Because the child decided to do this. So at the end of the day, it’s what I’m telling you. He’s like a child, who has no idea where he’s standing and needs attention. … That’s the image he gives off with everything that’s happening. I don’t know if that’s truly him or if this is his character.”
With the Topuria feud and other comments made ahead of UFC Fight Night 204, some wonder if Pimblett is looking past Kazula. The Mexican fighter could care less as it doesn’t change his plan, but does warm Pimblett of the consequences that could stem from it if he’s underestimating Vargas.
“I think he’s making a big mistake thinking about the future when the future doesn’t exists, there’s only the present,” Vargas said. “That’s a life mistake. You can’t think of what’s going to happen in 10 years if you don’t get to 10 years, right? You need to live the moment and the now. I don’t know if he respects me or not, but I don’t care. If he respects me or not, it’s the same with me. I ‘m going in there to do my job and that’s it.”
Kazula Vargas annoyed at Paddy Pimblett’s ‘childish’ persona, ‘stupid’ comments to Ilia Topuria