No, it’s not Gastric bypass.
UFC lightweight sensation Paddy Pimblett was expected to make his Octagon return at the upcoming UFC 286 pay-per-view (PPV) event, recently made official for Sat., March 18, 2023 at The O2 in London, England, with the Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman welterweight trilogy headlining the overseas fight card.
That return is now in jeopardy.
Pimblett is scheduled for ankle surgery in March, according to his latest video blog, to repair damage suffered in his unanimous decision victory over Jared Gordon at UFC 282 last December. “The Baddy” appeared to be headed to his first loss inside the Octagon during that contest but the “Sin City” judges disagreed.
“Looks like you have got a small amount of cartilage, the other thing you’ve got is all this white stuff around here, that’s all fluid and what all the swelling is,” the doctor said in Pimblett’s video. “When we look at the ligaments which joins from your fibula, you’ve probably got what we call a grade two injury.”
A timeline for Pimblett’s return has yet to be determined, but former UFC champion and current “Fight Night” commentator Michael Bisping is hoping we get a more humble version of the 28 year-old “Baddy” when the scouser returns later this year.
“I think what Paddy needs to do is just humble himself a little bit,” Bisping said on his “Believe You Me” podcast. “Stop with this ‘I’m the new cash cow’ s—t. When I asked him who would he want to fight next, ‘I don’t need to say anyone’s name because I am the man. I’m the boy, I’m the cash cow’ — and you’re yet to fight someone ranked. When you’re dominating people, it’s all well and good. When you’re scraping by a victory, it doesn’t have the same effect, and it starts to rub people the wrong way. Nobody in the top ten, certainly in the top five, needs Paddy to give them a rub. Dustin Poirier, Islam Makhachev, Charles Oliveira, these are household names in mixed martial arts.”
Pimblett is currently 4-0 in UFC (20-3 overall).