UFC veteran Matt Brown has criticized Paddy Pimblett for his significant weight gain following his win over Michael Chandler at UFC 314.
Undefeated fighter Paddy Pimblett headlined one of the biggest fights of his career at UFC 314, continuing his winning streak with a second-round TKO over Michael Chandler. The victory has moved “The Baddy” into the top five of the UFC’s lightweight rankings and possibly set him up for a future title shot. Pimblett has enjoyed a successful UFC run so far and is known for celebrating his wins with feasting and rapid weight gain. However, despite his success in the octagon, UFC slugger Matt Brown has voiced strong concerns over Pimblett’s post-fight habits.
“If I were his coach, I would have some concern,” Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “What I tell all of my fighters is we have a short window here. You might be doing this for 15 to 20 years at most. There’s a lot that you can get out of it. Why not squeeze all the fcking juice out that you can? It’s not a ton of suffering to not put on fcking 40 pounds after a fight. You can enjoy yourself , enjoy yourself with some moderation and then be back in the gym next week. Nothing wrong with that.”
“You’ve got to have a good, relaxed mind when you’re training and going through this journey, but particularly when we’re young, we feel invincible. We forget how short all this is. When you’re 20, you don’t ever feel like you’re going to be 40 in your life. When you’re 30, you never feel like you’re going to be 50. Like that day’s just never going to come. I can just do whatever I do right now , just live in the moment.”
While Pimblett’s ability to gain and lose weight quickly hasn’t yet affected his UFC performances, Brown warns that the 30-year-old lightweight is entering a more serious phase of his career, especially with a title shot potentially on the horizon.
Despite his latest victory, Pimblett still has many top contenders to face before reaching UFC gold, and putting on weight immediately after a fight may not be the smartest approach.
“We push so hard to get something, and then we get it, and we just relax,” Brown said. “It’s not a good way to look at it. He’s in an absolute savage division, too. He better keep his eyes on the prize because he’s in for some bloodthirsty motherf*ckers now.
“You’re not in LFA, Cage Warriors — wherever he came from. You’re in with the top motherf*ckers in the world now, especially when you’re talking about the 155 division. They’re absolute savages.”
“To me, every day that you’re not in the gym, every day that you’re a little bit overweight, every day you’re not getting the most out of yourself someone else is,” Brown continued. “We’ve seen the disciplined champions like [Georges St-Pierre]. I think he’s a great example of just an uber-disciplined champion, and look at how great he became. We’ve also seen the opposite, like a Jon Jones. I don’t know his training, but my assumption is he’s less disciplined than GSP — and he still achieved great things. But did he achieve that in spite of his training, or is he just simply that f*cking good? That’s what I assume.
“We’re not all Jon Jones. What would Jon Jones have done had he not done some of that sh*t? Maybe he would have had all finishes … it’s just about squeezing all the juice and maximizing yourself to be the greatest that you can possibly be. I believe I did that with myself, personally. I didn’t even start training until I was 24 years old. I was in the UFC in four years. I think it was because of that mentality I just gave everything I could, every day.”
Brown also cautioned that fans can quickly turn on Pimblett if his eating habits start affecting his performance.
“…Now is not the time to relax. Now’s not the time to have fun. Now’s the time to double down. Now it’s crunch time. Double down on what you’ve been doing. Do more. Do it better. Do it harder.”
