A sharp face, chocolate bars and ultra-athletic legs. Then a week later, chubby cheeks, a big belly and swollen thighs. Paddy Pimblett is two-faced. In a few days, the MMA fighter, who faces Justin Gaethje on the night of Saturday to Sunday for the interim UFC lightweight title, can experience significant weight variations.
Visually, the differences are striking. And the scale perfectly conveys the impression. While he weighs 70.7 kg maximum on the eve of the fight, the limit in his category, the Englishman can climb up to 95 kg outside of the fight. A weight that he reached very quickly after his duels, his body responding to the restrictions imposed in previous weeks.
In the StillTalkingShow program, in November 2024, Paddy Pimblett returned to his variations, explaining it by water retention. “After a week of fighting, I ended up reaching 95 kg, maybe 93 kg,” he explained. It’s just that you’ve exhausted your body, it retains everything. I put him on half starvation mode during the week to lose weight, so he’s clinging to everything. As soon as I eat salty things, it retains water. That’s why I look bloated and fat. It’s my cheeks, they’re just swollen. »
15 kg regained in 36 hours
Hamburgers, milkshakes, pizzas, everything goes there. But despite these weight gains, “The Baddy” never misses a weigh-in. Since joining the UFC in September 2021, he has always appeared sharp and under the imposed weight limit. “When I’m in the United States, food turns me into a machine,” he smiled in the podcast It’s Time in April 2025. I’m massive in the US, but when I’m back in the UK I won’t be over 88.4kg or anything like that. »
Despite everything, he must lose 18 kg in the weeks preceding his fight. During his last fight, against Michael Chandler, Paddy Pimblett documented his weight loss, explaining that he started his training camp at 88.5 kg. Three weeks before the duel, he had already dropped to 79.3 kg, then to 77 kg two days before entering the cage. He then made a cuttingwater loss via saunas and hot water baths, to lose excess 6.3 kg.
The next day, fight day, 36 hours later, he was already back to his usual standards. “In reality, I go up to 84 kg in the cage, I regain almost 15 kg, no more,” he explains to TNT Sports. I do things properly now. It may not have been good before but my last two cuttings were perfect.” The rebound, however, remains enormous and dangerous. Especially if it is repeated too regularly.
Worth a look
