UFC’s Georgian fighters blast newcomer Paddy Pimblett for ‘disgusting’ comments

Guram Kutateladze will not forget the recent comments made by UFC newcomer, Paddy Pimblett.

The UFC lightweight was very interested in the idea of welcoming the former Cage Warriors champion to the Octagon, so Kutateladze took to social media to call him out. Pimblett responded, and the pair engaged in a back-and-forth exchange chock-full of typical trash talk that soon devolved into chaos after just one comment.

“Lad how stupid are these Georgians man, no wonder the Russians terrorise their lives,” remarked Pimblett during the exchange. His comments immediately reminded many readers of the Russo-Georgian War in 2008 that resulted in many Georgian casualties. Kutateladze, alongside other Georgian fighters such Ilia Topuria and Liana Jojua, quickly condemned the comment and Pimblett would later delete and apologize for what he said.

Kutateladze recently spoke with Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie about the weight of Pimblett’s words and why they now serve as the driving force behind his hope to fight him one day.

“My management and me decided to challenge the guy and welcome him to the Octagon, but he kind of didn’t like it or something like that,” said Kutateladze. “He answered the way he did — very insulting for me — then I just answered back. I told him to stay humble until he gets forced to be. After, I was in Bahrain and there were some Internet issues, so I went in the evening and there was like 30 or 40 tweets from the guy. And I was like, ‘Okay, he went crazy on me and my management, Nima. He wrote very insulting things to him and it’s disgusting. He talked about Georgia, he talked about my people, my country, about the war between Russia and Georgia — that Georgia deserves what happened.

“After he realized that because it reflected the people and Georgian people started pressuring the guy like, ‘Hey, that is something else. Now you’re talking that it’s okay and we deserved to die’ — this is not a joke. You don’t joke about some things. There is limits to everything. You have to respect the country, religion, family and stuff like that. He deleted his messages and he kind of apologized, but you have to take responsibility for what you say. By deleting your tweets, it doesn’t mean that you never said it. The words you say don’t disappear by deleting them. I hope I meet him one day in the Octagon and I can punish this person for everything he said and for his attitude.”

Kutateladze last competed in October at UFC Fight Island 6, where he upset the previously undefeated Mateusz Gamrot with a split decision victory. He was scheduled to fight Don Madge in his sophomore appearance, but Kutateladze was forced to withdraw because of a knee injury.

The knee required surgery and Kutateladze needed a few months to recuperate. He is preparing to make his return soon after receiving a fight offer from the UFC, and while it may not be against Pimblett, he still hopes to get that fight.

“I didn’t move on from Paddy,” said Kutateladze. “The thing is always going to be there. It’s not like a childish thing for him, like five minutes you’re a little bit sad or mad or grumpy, and then after five minutes you forget about it. It’s not like that. We’re adults. But, I got an offer from the UFC for my next opponent. Right now, I’m not allowed to say the name…but there is going to be a fight during the summer. We’ll hope for the best and keep on thinking positive.”