Anthony Smith of the United States looks on against Glover Teixeira of Brazil in their Light Heavyweight bout during UFC Fight Night at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on May 13, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
Anthony Smith does not like how much Paddy Pimblett blows up when not in fight camp
Paddy Pimblett has emerged as one of the biggest superstars to emerge out of the European MMA circuit. While the UK fighter is being fed with warm-up competition while the UFC tries to build his brand, his next fight against another eccentric personality Jordan Leavitt will be his biggest test so far.
Pimblett has a reputation for swelling up in pounds, quickly after his fights owing to his love for junk food. ‘Baddy’ has previously claimed that he’d rather be fat and happy than trimmed and sad. He is often seen out of fight camps completely out of shape.
This has gotten MMA fans, experts, and fighters all worried and talking about the grave effect it has on the body. UFC light heavyweight fighter Anthony Smith believes that it’s easier to do that when he’s 27 years old. But the body will give up reacting to such drastic measures once he reaches a certain age and a certain amount of weight cuts.
Speaking on ‘The Believe You Me Podcast‘ with Michael Bisping, Anthony Smith said, “I hear the criticism on Paddy and I probably echo it a little bit. But not because I’m trying to shame him or make fun of him or be a d**k. Like, that up-and-down yo-yo thing, you can only do it so long. And he’s really good. So, he’s gonna start having problems as he gets older, his metabolism is going to slow down a little bit… you only have so many weight cuts like that in you. So, it’s just the damage that he’s doing. I think that he would be a better athlete and a better fighter, if he was able to just keep his weight down.”
Former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw questioned Paddy Pimblett’s work ethic and claimed that the UK fighter will never be a champion if he continues to walk down this road. Speaking with former UFC fighter Brendan Schaub, TJ said,
“He’s just loving diabetes. That’s like a recipe for destroying your body. I guess there’s one thing when I look at it: They can promote him the right way and do all this good stuff, and he’s got some stuff to grow and get into the higher echelons of the UFC, but if you keep that same work ethic that he has now, he’ll never be a champion.
“You can’t have that down time like that. You can’t get that fat. You can’t get out of shape. It just proves the dedication to what you need to do. I’m not trying to pound on him or anything, but that’s something I think he’s going to have to figure out with age. He’s young. It’s a full-time job. This isn’t just wanting to be a fighter; you have to be a fighter.”
Pimblett quickly responded to Dillashaw’s comments, reminding him of the time when he used performance-enhancing drugs. TJ quickly gained some pounds in suspension and released a series of t-shirts at that time.
Pimblett responded on Twitter by saying, ‘Is this fella messin @TJDillashaw used to sell tee shirts with his fat face on it saying “fat Tyler” on when he came out of camp don’t forget ur own past u sausage Cheating little juice head wud never have won a belt without them steroids u fucking mushroom ’
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