UFC boss Dana White has warned Paddy Pimblett his eating habits will catch up to him later in his fighting career.
Pimblett, 27, is one of the UFC's biggest stars but he often receives more attention for his diet rather than his fighting. 'The Baddy' embarks on post-fight junk food binges of doughnuts, pizzas and kebabs, recently scoffing down a kebab following his win against Jordan Leavitt.
Following his second UFC win earlier this year, Pimblett went on an 11,000 calorie binge and put on over 20kg in just two weeks. The Liverpudlian kept up the bad habit after his latest fight, weighing over 200lb just three weeks on from UFC London. White has admitted that Pimblett's eating habits make it problematic for UFC matchmakers when trying to book him a fight.
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"It makes it tough for us when we are in the matchmaking room and we want to throw together a fight," White told reporters. "Maybe we can throw him in a card in a month or a month a half, but it hurts us two as we have to be very specific when he plan fights for him because he is nowhere near close to the weight. What you don't want to do is put all that pressure on him to cut that much weight in that short amount of time.
"It's not good for you, we all know that. We know that fluctuating and cutting all that weight is very bad, it definitely doesn't prolong your career. It's tough on your body and your organs, but listen he's a grown man and he can do whatever the hell he wants to do. It's none of my business, it's all up to him. It's his life, his career, his body, he can do whatever he wants."
Despite piling on over 45lb after his fights, Pimblett has never missed weight in his MMA career and even used to compete at featherweight during his time in Cage Warriors. Former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen thinks Pimblett's eating habits make him look "foolish" and has urged him to be more disciplined.
"Paddy and the weight [gain] has got to stop. It makes him look foolish. Eventually, that's going to bite you in the a**. People are gonna say, 'he wasn't disciplined and he eats too many donuts.' The whole thing is weird. It's very nerdy. What a guy eats or if he likes jelly donuts – it's just a weird thing to talk about. There's nothing interesting about this," Sonnen said on his YouTube channel.
