Paddy Pimblett’s teammate was warned he’d be iced out by UFC if he didn’t accept fight while injured

Shem Rock seemingly received questionable advice from his management before the fight that ultimately cost him his UFC job.

A variety of fighters who train on the Next Generation MMA gym in Liverpool have made it to the game’s biggest stage, essentially the most outstanding being Paddy Pimblett.

The previous interim UFC lightweight title challenger has gone 7-1 within the UFC to this point, together with his one loss coming against then-future undisputed champion Justin Gaethje this past January.

However the Scouser’s teammate, Shem Rock, couldn’t find similar success within the promotion, having didn’t win a single fight before being cut.

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Paddy Pimblett’s teammate Shem Rock was practically forced into UFC London fight

Rock was a part of a UFC roster purge that also included veteran bantamweight contender Pedro Munhoz back in April.

The choice to release the Next Gen MMA product got here shortly after he had fallen to 0-2 contained in the Octagon after a house defeat to Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady.

Security needed to scramble at UFC London after Rock threw a punch after the ultimate horn in March, marking the Brit’s final act contained in the Octagon before being fired.

Now, nonetheless, the 32-year-old has suggested he shouldn’t even have entered the cage on that night at The O2 given the injuries he was carrying.

“I tore my LCL, six weeks out,” Rock said during a recent interview with JNMEDIAUK.

“The following day I woke up and I got a call off my manager, ‘Do you wanna fight on UFC London?’ I said, ‘I can’t even train; I want to rehab my knee.’

“I used to be told if I don’t accept the fight, perhaps I don’t get any fights in a protracted time, perhaps I don’t get any favorable matchups coming forward.

“‘It’s gonna be tough for us, either fighting or sitting on the bench.’ And I’m like, ‘I can’t even spar…’ But I believed, ‘I’ve done this before.’”

Rock has yet to book his first fight since leaving the UFC.

Before being signed by MMA’s leading promotion, Pimblett’s teammate went undefeated under Europe’s OKTAGON banner.

During his recent public tirade against the UFC, Colby Covington suggested that fighters have little say over their careers and should not have the choice to show down fights, unless they need their status within the promotion to be negatively affected.