UFC lightweight prospect Jordan Leavitt has denied that he was the victim of a “teabag” following his defeat to Paddy Pimblett last weekend.
On July 23, the UFC headed across the pond for its second UK-held event of the year. Like the first, UFC London 2.0 saw rising star Pimblett record a victory in front of a home crowd, lifting the roof off The O2 arena with both his walkout and submission victory. But what was different this time? The Liverpudlian’s post-fight celebration.
While “The Baddy” followed his first-round win against Rodrigo Vargas with some dance moves, the pre-fight narrative prior to his clash with Leavitt leant itself to something more extravagant.
And what could be more extravagant than a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2-esque “teabag?”
After landing a brutal knee from an anaconda choke attempt before taking Leavitt’s back and locking in a fight-ending rear-naked choke, Pimblett delivered on his fight-week promise — to counter the American’s twerking plans with a unique post-victory move of his own.
But while Leavitt returned back across the Atlantic with a defeat added to his record, his UFC London experience wasn’t without a victory of sorts — not being ‘teabagged’ with the correct technique…
There’s a sentence not many would have expected to be able to apply to a mixed martial arts bout.
Leavitt Brands Pimblett’s Celebration A “Pretty PG Teabag”
During an interview with The MMA-Holes, Leavitt reflected on his first trip to Europe, and in particular, the Liverpudlian backside he was greeted with after being submitted inside the Octagon.
After explaining the unfortunate timing of his tongue being out as Pimblett begin to squat, “The Monkey King” questioned whether the move can be counted as an official “teabag”.
“Okay, so, if you look at a lot of my pictures in my fights, I’m always biting my tongue, and whenever I breathe hard, I laugh like a dog,” Leavitt said. “So, I was in the middle of a laugh, and I was breathing hard, and then I realized what he was doing. So I look at him, my tongues out, and then I’m like, ‘Ah crap, I gotta get up fast.’
“I mean, it wasn’t really a teabag, to be fair. I mean, I’m not the expert, but in my experience of teabagging, it’s not (gestures in front of him), you know? … He was pretty far away, that was a pretty PG teabag, to be fair,” Leavitt continued. “I’m appreciative. I didn’t want the teabag. But it wasn’t quite a teabag. That was more of a ‘dropping down low’ kinda thing.”
Leavitt knows a thing or two about dropping it down low, with his own wins usually capped off with some moves, most notably his patented twerk. Unfortunately for the American, while he’d promised to incite riots with his shaking, the twerk was trumped in London on July 23 — by a video game taunt, of all things.
“Teabag beats twerk this time,” Leavitt poetically concluded.
While the post-fight image of Leavitt staring at the impending doom of Pimblett’s behind is perhaps not what he envisioned when he flew to England’s capital, Leavitt took the exchange in good jest.
And given his charisma, he would probably prefer for that to be the main memory from the event, rather than the submission he fell to moments earlier.
What did you make of Paddy Pimblett’s “teabag” attempt following his victory over Jordan Leavitt?
