Paddy Pimblett is one of the biggest stars in MMA, but one of his most famous moments is one most fighters would rather forget.
Back in 2016, Pimblett defended his Cage Warriors featherweight title against Julian Erosa at Cage Warriors Unplugged 1 in London. After the fight, Pimblett went viral for vomiting during his post-fight interview, and on Wednesday, during a Fight Camp vlog discussing his weight cut for UFC 329, Pimblett discussed his worst weight-cutting mistakes and explained what happened in that now infamous clip.
“The worst mistake I ever made when refueling, when I fought [Rodrigo] Vargas [at UFC London in 2022], I hadn’t even drank any water yet — well, I drank a little bit of water, but in the fighter hotel I went straight downstairs and got a full English [breakfast],” Pimblett said. “I was sitting there eating the full English, I’d only drank about a liter of water, and Paul Reed came over, ‘What the f*ck are you doing?!’ I was just sitting there like, ‘Just having a full English.’ And he was like, ‘What are you doing, you f*cking idiot?’
“When I was a proper kid, I remember weighing in and going to me bag and pulling a bottle of chocolate milk out, and Paul saying, ‘What the f*ck are you doing?’ ‘Oh, it’s good to hydrate.’ ‘Yeah, in like 12 hours, you f*cking idiot.’ So I had to drink loads of water first, and he took it out of me.”
“When I spewed in the cage [after fighting Erosa], it wasn’t because of the refuel, it was just because of being an idiot before I went to the venue. Before I went to the venue, I went to Starbucks or Costco … I got a hot chocolate, and we went to Tesco, and I got a pack of Ferrero Rocher, and I ate them on the way to the venue, after doing an 8-kilo water cut, one of the biggest cuts I’ve ever done. It didn’t go well with me body at the time. It was a bad idea, but that was me, stupid kid, didn’t listen to anyone. I was only 21 at the time.”
Now a 31-year-old man with children of his own, Pimblett is much better prepared and more professional about his career.
Since moving to the UFC and up to the lightweight division, Pimblett has never failed to make weight, and as he prepares to take on Benoit Saint Denis in the co-main event of UFC 329 next weekend, “The Baddy” is locked in.
“We don’t miss weight. We make weight healthily,” Pimblett said. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do next week. I might end up even having less weight to cut from when I fought Justin Gaethje, and you saw with that one, I weighed in underweight.
“This time I haven’t got to make 155, it’s 156. You never know, I might only end up cutting 10 pounds, and then I’ll be getting back in the cage at 185. A proper lightweight.”
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