Paddy Pimblett has responded to former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw’s harsh critique of his weight gain in between fights.
Pimblett has been known to enjoy himself quite a bit in between fight camps. He has looked like a completely different person following fight night, gaining large quantities of weight and enjoying a variety of unhealthy food choices.
Some feel that Pimblett should tone it down with his post-fight weight gains, while others feel that his recent victories prove it isn’t an issue. But during a recent interview on The Schaub Show, Dillashaw gave his thoughts on Pimblett’s weight gains.
“He’s just loving diabetes. That’s like a recipe for destroying your body,” Dillashaw said of Pimblett. “I guess there’s one thing when I look at it: They can promote him the right way and do all this good stuff, and he’s got some stuff to grow and get into the higher echelons of the UFC, but if you keep that same work ethic that he has now, he’ll never be a champion.
“You can’t have that down time like that, you can’t get that fat. You can’t get out of shape. It just proves the dedication to what you need to do. I’m not trying to pound on him or anything, but that’s something I think he’s going to have to figure out with age. He’s young. It’s a full-time job. This isn’t just wanting to be a fighter; you have to be a fighter.” (h/t BJ Penn)
After getting word of Dillashaw’s comments, Pimblett hit back in a recent tweet.
“Is this fella messin,” Pimblett replied. “[TJ Dillashaw] used to sell tee shirts with his fat face on it saying ‘fat Tyler’ on when he came out of camp don’t forget ur own past u sausage. Cheating little juice head wud never have won a belt without them steroids u fucking mushroom.”
Pimblett signed with the UFC following a successful run in Cage Warriors which included a featherweight title. He won his UFC debut over Luigi Vendramini last year before following it up with a first-round submission of Kazula Vargas at UFC London back in March.
Pimblett doesn’t plan on adjusting his post-fight routines anytime soon as he looks to continue to move up in the lightweight division.
Do you think Paddy Pimblett should limit his weight gain in between fights?