Paddy Pimblett has weighed in at 155lbs to successfully complete his 40lb body transformation ahead of his second UFC appearance.
The Merseyside star emerged as a hot prospect after entertaining fans with a breakout victory over Luigi Vendramini last September. But he shocked fans by piling on the pounds shortly after his win, claiming that he weighed 195lbs at his heaviest.
He has now successfully made the 40lb weight cut, weighing 155lbs as promised ahead of his UK showdown with Rodrigo Vargas at The O2 arena on the UFC London card tomorrow night. Pimblett features on the main card before Arnold Allen takes on Dan Hooker and Tom Aspinall faces Alexander Volkov.
The 27-year-old has claimed he enjoys being fat when he is outside of training camp but has since admitted that he will try to avoid such a drastic cut after his second octagon bow. "I'm going to have to try and avoid it this time," Paddy told the Daily Star. "I think I was nearly 195lb, I was nearly 200lbs, but that's what happens when you go out and eat three main meals and two desserts every single night.
"I might be fat but I'll never get lazy because of this. Everyone of yous (sic) who believe in me drive me on everyday. 2022 is going to be a big year for the baddy!"
Pimblett was involved in a physical altercation with lightweight rival Ilia Tapiura earlier this week. He had previously sent a text message to Tapiura antagonising him before the pair later came-face-to-face in a hotel with Tapiura hurling a bottle of hand sanitiser at Pimblett.
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Pimblett has earned comparisons to some of the great lightweight contenders including Conor McGregor who is one of the promotion's biggest superstars. Although he is in the early stages of his career as he prepares to make his second cage appearance, he made a similar route to the Irishman having been crowned champion during his time fighting in Cage Warriors.
Former MMA referee John McCarthy believes his career should be mapped in a similar path to the Irish star. "If you take a look at the guys they're going to be putting him against," he said on the ' Weighing In ' podcast. "I don't think they're going to be putting Paddy against anybody that's got that wrestling background right now. "They're going to be putting him against strikers, and he's going to do pretty well with strikers."
And former UFC fighter Josh Thomson agreed by stating: "They're gonna try and build him a little bit like they did [with] Conor McGregor. They're going to spend the time and slow play it. "Give him the fights that potentially he can stand with, Paddy Pimblett, they're going to build him that same way."
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