Paddy Pimblett has been warned that he cannot continue to gain weight after his UFC fights if he wants to compete with the best competitors in his class.
Pimblett won his third UFC title by submitting Jordan Leavitt this past weekend at UFC London.
‘The Baddy’ continued his post-fight pattern of consuming junk food by devouring a kebab shortly after his victory. It’s a repeating topic for Pimblett, who has received a lot of media attention for the weight he gains between training sessions.
The Liverpudlian swore not to gain weight after his second UFC victory in March, but failed to keep his word after embarking on an 11,000-calorie food binge and gaining 45 pounds in less than two weeks.
UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley has told Pimblett that he will be unable to maintain his eating habits once he begins battling top-ranked lightweight fighters.
“He looked unhealthy,” O’Malley said of Pimblett on his YouTube channel. “I like Paddy, I have nothing against him, but going from cutting that much weight in that time, because he was fat as f*** not too long ago, then he makes weight, looks shredded and jacked, but his face?”
“For Paddy, if he thinks he’s as good as he thinks he is, like when I was fighting guys who weren’t as good as I thought I was, if that makes sense, like, I’m fighting Petr Yan.
“I always dialled in for camps but it’s different. He’s fighting Jordan Leavitt, he probably looked at him and thought ‘not that good’. I’m sure once he’s fighting Islam [Makhachev], Charles [Oliveira] or Dustin [Poirier], any of those guys, it’s like ‘okay, let’s not get up to 210lb’. Let’s dial it in a little further.”
Pimblett has become known for his dramatic weight cuts during his career, although he has yet to miss weight in any of his 22 professional fights. “For everyone who attempted to fat-shame me and claim I’d miss weight or f***ing pull out, kiss my a***,” the self-described “foodie” said while weighing in for his latest battle.
O’Malley is not the first fighter to counsel Pimblett on how to improve his diet. Former UFC champion TJ Dillashaw advised ‘The Baddy’ that if he continues to indulge on junk food, he will never be a champion, while boxing star Ricky Hatton believes the Liverpudlian should commit to a healthy diet while competing in the UFC.
