Paddy Pimblett has explained why he quickly gains weight after his fights.
‘The Baddy’ has won six consecutive scraps and cracked the lightweight rankings since joining the UFC – but fans continue to focus on his extracurricular activities.
Paddy Pimblett makes no secret about his love of junk food and when he’s not cutting weight for a fight, he’s usually enjoying his favorite snacks and setting food records at local restaurants.
However, his rapid weight gain has led to some fans expressing concerns about the Englishman.
- READ MORE: Who is Paddy Pimblett? Get to know the ‘baddy’ of MMA who is making his presence felt in UFC
Paddy Pimblett explains his post-fight weight problem
Pimblett weighed 156lbs the day before he choked out Bobby Green at UFC 304 in July.
Two weeks later, he shocked the world by sharing footage of him tipping the scales at 197lbs, which is 42lbs heavier than he weighed for the win that earned him a $200,000 bonus.
Amazingly, his weight went higher than that before it plateaued. Now he’s back down to his normal walking-around weight and confident he understands what is causing the interesting fluctuations.
“Now I’m just back to my normal weight,” Pimblett said on the StillTalkingShow.
“After a fight week, I end up going up to about 95kg [209.5lbs] or something.
“It’s just where you have depleted your body, it holds onto everything. I’ve half put it in starvation mode for a week making weight. Your body holds on to everything.
“So as soon as I have salty stuff, it just holds the water in me. That’s why I look bloated, and I look fat. It’s my cheeks. It’s just bloated. It’s just because I go overboard, I’ll be honest.”
Paddy Pimblett open to welterweight fights
Pimblett has never missed weight since joining the UFC, but he openly admits that getting down to the lightweight limit is a long and arduous process.
And because of that, he’s unable to take short-notice fights. In October, he pretty much ruled out fighting again in 2024 as he wouldn’t be able to make weight.
Still, he’d be open to taking late-notice bouts at welterweight, but only if the UFC offered him a big-name opponent, who isn’t a massive 170lb fighter.
“It’s too late now to make lightweight for the UFC events at the end of the year,” Pimblett said.
“I’d rather not kill myself trying to make weight – but if they want to get me Colby [Covington] or [Conor] McGregor at welterweight, I’d do it.
“I’d fight either at welterweight because they aren’t massive welterweights. I don’t think many welterweights are that big compared to me. I only realized how big of a lightweight I am when I fought Bobby.”
Covington is booked to face Joaquin Buckley on December 14, and McGregor’s long-awaited and eagerly anticipated comeback has been delayed until 2025.
It seems Pimblett will face another ranked lightweight early next year.