A simple meal at Chipotle turned into something completely unexpected for ex-UFC and Bellator analyst Jimmy Smith.
Next time Jimmy Smith orders a Chipotle burrito, he might have to ask them to hold the staples.
The current former UFC and Bellator MMA analyst ordered a steak burrito for himself at the popular fast food chain, but his first bite uncovered what he described to TMZ Sports as “a brick of staples” that he was fortunate enough to pick out before a potentially disastrous swallow.
“I literally went to pick up a couple of items at Chipotle,” Smith said. “One was a burrito for me, I brought it home, took one bite — I want to make that very clear — I took one bite. And there was something hard in there and I pulled it out of my tooth and it was 14 staples I pulled out. You know a brick of staples like that, and it split up in my mouth. So I pulled it out and I looked at it and went, ‘these are actual staples in the burrito.’
“I called the manager at Chipotle and freaked out on him,” he continued. “And he’s like, ‘I’m really sorry about that. Do you want us to remake your food?’ I went “‘No! I don’t want you to touch any of my good.’ I was like, ‘that can’t be anywhere near the food. Staples shouldn’t be anywhere near the food.”’
“I eat like a wild animal, so it’s amazing I didn’t swallow those things. So the speed I eat I have to have a lot of trust in my food to not swallow — what was it? — 13 staples in one bite. […] And that’s in one bite. I didn’t search the rest of the burrito.”
Given the nature of what transpired and how harmful it could’ve been for Smith, one can argue it’s grounds for a lawsuit. But Smith doesn’t intend to go that route against Chipotle.
“I’m not that guy,” Smith said. “I’ve been through way worse than biting into a staple in my life. And the guy from Chipotle actually said ‘Did it hurt your teeth? Did it crack anything?’ I was like ‘No, no.’ He offered if I needed dental work or something like that, and I said ‘Nah, it wasn’t that bad.
“If I had swallowed those things? Yes. Then we’ve got a problem. But I just pulled it out and went, ‘alright, this can’t happen to somebody else.’ Because that was my major concern. If they’re somehow making their food near staples, you can’t do that, so that was my major concern.”
For those of you who don’t know, Chipotle has been running ads detailing how proud they are that unlike other chains, they use real fresh ingredients cooked in a real kitchen. I don’t think this is what they had in mind when real staples were introduced to the real burrito. In fact, that’s a very dangerous oversight at that particular location.
Thankfully Smith is okay and that seemingly no one else was affected by whatever incident caused staples to go into food. As for Smith’s current gig, you can hear him on Invicta FC broadcasts moving forward.