UFC lightweight sensation Paddy Pimblett likes to pack on the pounds between fights and recently told combat sports reporters that he wasn’t going to keep his weight down until the promotion started feeding him ranked opponents.
UFC President Dana White is not a fan of that strategy.
“It’s not good for you,” White told the media on Tues. night (via MMA Junkie). “We all know that. We know that fluctuating and cutting that much weight is very bad, and it definitely doesn’t prolong your career. It’s tough on your body and your organs and stuff like that, but listen: He’s a grown man. He can do whatever the hell he wants to do.”
Pimblett, 27, has been known to tip the scale at over 200 pounds and would need to drop close to 50 pounds to make the lightweight limit. That prevents UFC matchmakers from booking “The Baddy” whenever the opportunity arises.
“It makes it tough for us too, because when we’re in the matchmaking room, we want to throw together a fight, maybe we can throw him on a card in a month, a month-and-a-half, it hurts us too,” White continued. “We have to be very specific when we plan fights for him, because he’s nowhere near close to weight, and what you don’t want to do is put that kind of pressure to cut that much weight in that short amount of time.”
Pimblett is targeting an Octagon return for the UFC 282 card on Dec. 10.