Paddy Pimblett is already trying to shut down the usual weight-cut panic before UFC 329. Seven weeks before his fight with Benoit Saint Denis, Pimblett stepped on the scale in a new vlog and showed himself at 85.7kg, about 189 pounds, before firing back at dieticians who post about his size between camps.
Pimblett is scheduled to fight Saint Denis on July 11 in Las Vegas, on the same card as Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway 2 at UFC 329. The lightweight limit is 156 pounds for a non-title fight, so Pimblett still has roughly 33 pounds to lose, but he did not sound worried.
Watch the full vlog below:
“First time we’ve seen 85, which is nice,” Pimblett said after checking the scale. “I woke up 86.4. What was that, 85.7?”
Paddy Pimblett Fires Back At Weight Critics Before UFC 329
Pimblett has heard the weight jokes for years. This time he pointed the message at dieticians and fight dieticians who have posted his pictures online.
“Nice one for watching, people,” Pimblett said. “You just know the score. Like, comment, subscribe. I know you always think I’m a fat bastard, but the weight’s actually sound. You can all think what you want. You have all these stupid dieticians and fight dieticians posting pictures of me. F*ck yous all, you gang of bums. You can’t even make your own fighters make weight.”
Pimblett enters this one at 23-4 in MMA and 7-1 in the UFC after his first Octagon defeat, a unanimous decision loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC 324. Before that, the former Cage Warriors featherweight champion had won his first seven UFC fights and climbed to No. 6 in the UFC lightweight rankings.
Saint Denis is not a reset fight. The French lightweight is a former French Army Special Forces soldier and is ranked No. 5 in the UFC lightweight division. Pimblett’s weight update matters because a hard cut against a pressure fighter like Saint Denis can turn into a bad night quickly.
The matchup also gives Pimblett a cleaner way to move past his UFC 324 loss to Gaethje. Beat Saint Denis, and the conversation shifts back toward contenders. Miss weight or fade late, and the weight criticism gets louder.
The scale showed 85.7kg, leaving Pimblett about 33 pounds above the lightweight limit seven weeks before the Saint Denis fight at UFC 329.
