Paddy Pimblett plans to celebrate beating Tony Ferguson by ‘eating a greasy burger and watching Liverpool beat Man United’, as ‘The Baddy’ opens up on joy of his wedding and new motivation from unborn twins ahead of UFC 296

Paddy Pimblett is relishing the prospect of a post-fight burger and three points for his beloved if he beats at 296.

'The Baddy' explained that he has already thought about how he will spend the hours after Saturday night's big game at T-Mobile Arena.

Speaking at UFC Apex headquarters in Las Vegas on Wednesday, he said: “Before a ball was kicked, I said we were going to win the competition! I'll beat Tony, eat a big, greasy burger, early evening and then get up to watch the Reds thump the Mancs on Sunday.'

Liverpool meet their old rivals at Anfield, where season ticket holder Pimblett is keen to perform, adding: 'Summer 2024 or 2025, I want to fight at Anfield, I'll put Dana in touch. It would mean more to me than winning a belt.”

Those dreams are on the back burner for now and the task ahead is overcoming a veteran who many partisans will be rooting for.

Pimblett tied the knot with his current wife Laura in the summer, which gave him a boost

Pimblett is a big Liverpool fan and wants to fight at Anfield in the coming years

It's a long road back to another fight week for Pimblett, who injured his ankle in the controversial decision victory over Jared Gordon a year ago.

He had to stand on the sidelines while seeing many fans criticizing his performance.

Pimblett's recovery and the first days after the operation were especially difficult. He revealed: 'The first few months were tough, I couldn't walk properly, wearing a boot until mid-May.

'My foot got infected and I went to hospital and was sleeping downstairs because I couldn't get up. With artificial ligaments, if the infection got to that point, I would have to have the whole operation again.”

But major milestones in his personal life helped get Pimblett back on track. “Things got better when I got married,” he added. 'My wife is pregnant with twins, so I have something else to look forward to.

'If I don't win this, I get half the money. Tony tries to beat me and can take food out of my unborn child's mouth, that won't happen. I've always told people, raising your hand in the cage is the best thing in the world. The only thing that compares to that is seeing your children being born. I'll have two in a few months and I can't wait to meet my little girls. They will look into my wife's stomach in the audience.'

Pimblett (top centre) said he thought Liverpool would win the league at the start of the season

Pimblett scored a controversial win over Jared Gordon in his last appearance in the UFC

UFC veteran Ferguson is on a six-fight losing streak heading into the fight with Pimblett

What about Ferguson? The MMA legend has lost six in a row, albeit against the best opponents, and is desperate to keep his career from falling apart.

Pimblett continued: “It's an honor to fight Tony. I saw him as a 15 year old. It's that cliché “when your heroes become your rivals”. Even I want to see him win, but not at my expense.

“What happens when you get to that age is you slow down. He has relied on athleticism and speed to get out of trouble in the past, but that isn't working now. I'm preparing for the version of him that defeated Pettis and Cerrone. He blocked me on social media, which is a bit strange, I'm in his head.'

There has been a lot of speculation about Ferguson's head in the weeks leading up to this match. His extreme training with US Navy SEAL David Goggins – which left him on the verge of vomiting – led to critics claiming he thought too much and trained too much.

It won't make any difference to Pimblett because one of Ferguson's strengths has always been his toughness anyway, not that it changes the assessment of Liverpool's battle as 'lose-lose'.

He added: “Ferguson has always been tough mentally, if the Goggins thing is what he feels he has to do then he gets power but it won't make a difference. He can still do three fives and look at the arm bar Charles had him in.

“If I win, they'll say Ferguson is washed up after a six-fight losing streak. If I somehow lose, they'll say I should be suspended because I lost to a washed-up Ferguson.

“It'll be nice to shut up a lot of haters. It will be really wonderful to do. That's why the first two months after my last fight were even worse.

“If I would have gotten hurt after the Leavitt fight, it wouldn't have been like that. People would have been into my a**h***. But when you get injured after a close fight and a performance like that after saying I would dismantle him – which I would have done if I hadn't been injured in the first round – it's very different.”

The last twelve months have weighed heavily on Pimblett and it is not entirely surprising that he is speaking negatively about the match.

That said, it will be another major stepping stone for 'The Baddy', the attention of a huge card and a move towards top 15 opposition is the logical next step.

Lose-lose it may be in his eyes right now, but he will be able to attack 2024 with a new lease of life if he can remind fans of his call-up on Saturday night.