Paddy Pimblett has been warned that if he keeps up his post-fight junk food binges, he will never be able to win UFC gold.
TJ Dillashaw, the former bantamweight champion and flyweight title contender who was stripped of his belt after testing positive for a banned substance in 2019, believes Pimblett lacks the requisite work ethic to stay in fight shape for long enough to become an elite competitor. The Liverpool native is known to balloon in weight between fights, but has yet to miss the lightweight limit in his career.
However, Dillashaw argues that he won't be able to compete at the top of the UFC if he continues eating poorly outside of fight camp, even though he has won his first two bouts in the promotion. Pimblett weighed in at over 200lb during his latest binge, and will have to drop almost four stone by July 22 to make his UFC fight with Jordan Leavitt happen.
"He's loving diabetes," Dillashaw joked in a heated rant about the Scouse fighter during an appearance on The Schaub Show. "That's like a recipe for just destroying your body. I guess there's one thing if I'm looking at it.
"They can promote him the right way and he might have what it takes to get into the higher echelons of the UFC, but if you keep that some work ethic he has now, then he'll never be UFC champion. You can't have that down time like that, you can't get that fat and out of shape. It just proves the dedication you need to do what you do.
"I'm not trying to clown on him but that's something he's going to have to figure out with age, right? He's young and this is a full-time job. This isn't a job where you want to be a fighter. You have to be a fighter."
Host Brendan Schaub claimed that he had a heart-to-heart with Pimblett after the pair filmed a recent episode of Food Truck Diaries, where they gorged on burgers at the Laugh Factory in California. According to Schaub, the fighter claimed that he will get his weight under control outside of fight times as he continues to ascend through the ranks in the promotion.
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"The reason I'm not worried about him is that off camera you do get the general idea that he knows," Schaub replied. "He said to me 'I know, I know, I'm on it, trust me'. Right now he's having fun, he's not fighting top 15 guys, but he knows."
Pimblett has previously said that he would rather be "fat and happy" than maintain his six-pack abs year-round. He has also indicated that he won't be facing top level opposition any time soon, with his contract only guaranteeing him $12,000 or around £9,000 for each fight.
He makes seven figures per year as a brand ambassador for Barstool Sports and netted two $50,000 (£40,000) bonuses for his debut and sophomore outings. But there has been uproar over Pimblett's guaranteed purses relative to his drawing power within the promotion.
