Getty Paddy Pimblett poses on the scale.
UFC veteran Matt Brown voiced his concerns about the ‘bad’ move by Paddy Pimblett ahead of today’s fight.
Lightweight star Pimblett is set to face Jared Gordon in tonight’s co-main event of UFC 282 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. He goes into the bout off a hard-fought win over Jordan Leavitt in July at UFC London. ‘The Baddy’ will look to extend his three-fight finishing streak under the banner against Gordon, a seasoned pro with 11 UFC fights on his resume.
The 27-year-old Scouser has proven to be one of the biggest rising prospects in the promotion, boasting an immense social media following and presence online. He is notorious for gaining copious amounts of weight in between contests, ballooning up to as high as 206.6 pounds outside of camp. While some find his relatable traits endearing, others have taken issue with his poor eating habits.
Ahead of the nearing clash, welterweight fighter Brown shared his thoughts on Pimblett’s tendency to gain weight when not in competition.
“The biggest thing, the X-factor that we haven’t really talked about is Paddy’s weight problems when he’s not in camp,” Brown said in an appearance on MMA Fighting’s “The Fighter vs. The Writer.” “He’s sitting there glorifying eating pizza and cheeseburgers and s***. We’ve seen the pictures. He gets ridiculously big, and that shows me a lack of discipline. That shows me that most of his [training] camp is really fat camp.
“You can’t live that way, especially in the UFC. You can’t live that way. You’re fighting killers that are training year round, staying on weight, staying ready. You’re fighting f****** lions here, and I think that’s a very, very bad move by Paddy.”
Brown Isn’t Impressed by Pimblett’s Skills
‘The Immortal’ Brown further expanded on his breakdown of Pimblett’s abilities inside the octagon. He suggested Pimblett only had one way to victory and that Gordon would know full well how to exploit it.
“I have not been overly impressed with his skills inside the cage, to be honest,” Brown said. “Again, I really like the guy, I’m not putting him down in any way, but I haven’t been overly impressed with what he’s done. He has very few paths to victory. It’s a single path to victory really. I think Jared knows that, and I think he’s going to come in ready and be able to nullify that.
“Jared Gordon’s the right fight for him. That’s the point that he’s at in his career, and I think he’s going to give him a good test. If he’s not right on point, Jared’s going to beat him. His obvious path to victory is going to be takedown and look for a choke, or look for some sort of a submission. I’m not confident he can do that to Jared Gordon, so that’s why I think it’s a great test for him.”
Brown Doesn’t Think Pimblett Is Like Conor McGregor
According to Brown, former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor is in his own league for star power in the sport. Although Pimblett has drawn a likeness to the Irish icon, Brown disapproves of the similarity.
“He’s nothing like Conor,” Brown said. “I can’t believe anybody would say that. I haven’t seen him trash talk at all. That’s what we loved about Conor was his confidence and his insane trash talking.
“Paddy’s just a good talker, period. He’s just a funny guy, relatable that’s just entertaining to watch. Conor was a completely different level, still is. I love Conor personally.”