UFC legend Chael Sonnen has heaped praise on Paddy Pimblett after the Scouse fighter agreed to help Paulo Costa make 185lb.
Costa infamously forced Marvin Vettori to move up an entire 20lb weight division for his last fight after failing to make the middleweight limit, and joked on Twitter that he would hire Pimblett as his nutritionist. The Liverpool native is known for ballooning by as much as 46lb from his fight weight after competing, but he has never missed weight for a bout.
It was Sonnen who originally got Costa and Pimblett involved, when the Brazilian responded to one of his videos by asking "Uncle Chael is everything ok? I got Charles' scale and Pimblett as nutritionist." The Brit responded to Costa's call by saying that he should "get over to Liverpool big man, we'll get you down to 185 in no time chesty!"
And now the former middleweight and light heavyweight title contender has shown his support for Pimblett over his offer to Costa. He said in a YouTube video : "Paddy Pimblett has offered to help Paulo cut weight. I think I'm right on this.
"Both of them have a fight coming up and Paddy knew that Paulo was struggling. It doesn't really matter, it was a cool move and I've never seen it before. I know people will say 'he's not serious', but he might be, I don't really know if he is or not!
"I know they're not friends, they've probably never met but if Paddy knows you're struggling to make weight and he goes 'hey by the way I'm pretty good at it, I'll give you a hand.' I like it."
Do you want to see Paddy Pimblett and Paulo Costa team up for an unorthodox weight cut? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Costa has been set to face former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold in his return to the octagon after a year out of action. But the bout appears to be frequently delayed, and Sonnen believes he will never make the middleweight limit.
The Brazilian is a massive 185lb fighter, and is known to be closer to heavyweight when he trains in Brazil. He blamed his last poor cut on an injury suffered in camp, that ultimately cost him his fight with Vettori and the second loss on his professional record.
Sonnen previously had said: "Paulo can't make weight. Paulo's not going to make weight. I'm not looking into some crystal ball here. We know as human beings we don't get smaller with time. We know about the work ethic and training of Paulo Costa...Now if I'm wrong and he pulls down to 185, fine, eat my words. But I'm very comfortable telling you guys that's not going to happen."
Pimblett returns on July 23 at UFC London, and will need to have lost around 45lb from his heaviest weight to make the fight with Jordan Leavitt happen. It remains to be seen when Costa and Rockhold will fight after a further delay.
