Paddy Pimblett reveals the reason behind his change of hairstyle after beating Tony Ferguson at UFC 296... as he makes a brutal prediction for Liverpool's crunch clash with Man United

Paddy Pimblett has revealed that he changed his hairstyle to stop his hair from getting in his eyes when he fights.

Pimblett continued his impressive UFC run with a decision victory over Tony Ferguson in the early hours of Sunday morning, dominating the American in the pair's lightweight bout.

The Liverpudlian has received praise for his post-fight words regarding his opponent, branding him a 'legend' as he looked forward to his next bout, potentially in Manchester.

But the main take away from the fight was potentially Pimblett's new look. Known for his longer-hair style and combed, old-fashioned look, the 28-year-old donned a new style on Sunday, wearing cornrows for the first time in his career.

Asked about the new look after his victory, Pimblett explained that it helped him tactically in the fight, but also that he was 'sick' of assumptions being made about him due to his hair 

'It's quite funny because whenever I used to play Fight Night or the UFC game or whatever I would always put cornrows on my character,' Pimblett said. 'But the reason I did it is because I'm sick of getting hit with little punches like left hooks and stuff like that and people saying he's rocked. Nah, my hair just moved. I'm not rocked at all.

'It was a little bit of a tactical one as well because my hair goes in my eyes and I've got to get my chin up and I think I did a little bit of a better job keeping my chin down tonight with the cornrows. I might look like White Boy Rick but it's sound. 

'It's going to stay now, I'm going to have to keep it because my hair doesn't get in my eyes, when it does it's frustrating I'll be honest.'

Pimblett also addressed comments made by Colby Covington regarding Leon Edwards' father, in which he claimed he 'was a sex trafficker, he was a drug lord, he killed people, the guy's a scumbag'.

Edwards dominated Covington in the main event on Sunday, and Pimblett was happy to see his fellow Brit come through.

'You don't speak about people's dead relatives,' he began. 'People have mentioned stuff that I've tweeted before but I've never mentioned anyone dying.

'In Liverpool we use the term terrorise very loosely. It's nothing to do with anything like that, even though people love to put words in my mouth. But I've never, ever mentioned someone's dead relative.

'If someone mentioned anything about my nan or grandma, I'd kick them in the face. So, I understand Leon throwing a bottle at him, I wish he'd have snapped his jaw then so he had to get it wired shut for saying something like that.'

And after referencing a potential fight in Manchester, Pimblett was asked about the upcoming Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester United on Sunday.

A big Reds fan, he only had one answer when it came to his prediction.

'9-0, the Mancs aren't going to like it, it's going to be slappy time. Liverpool, top of the league, Liverpool Liverpool, top of the league!

'There's a Liverpool supporters club here in Vegas and I've got the invite so I think I'll be in there in the morning at half eight swinging my shirt round.'