TJ Dillashaw takes a shot at Paddy Pimblett’s work ethic, “The Baddy’ hits back
TJ Dillashaw is looking to reclaim his spot as the UFC bantamweight champion and it seems he is on his way. Since returning from suspension, he has defeated Cory Sandhagen and put himself in the number two spot in the official rankings. As a former champion, Dillashaw knows firsthand the difficulties in becoming the best in the world. Dillashaw has taken it upon himself to throw a little shade toward another fighter with future title aspirations, Paddy Pimblett.
“He’s just loving diabetes,” Dillashaw said on The Schaub Show, via MMA Junkie. “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.”
Dillashaw is not exactly the shining poster boy for fighter health. He was suspended for violating the UFC’s drug policy, a violation he accepted and served. That fact is not stopping him from passing judgment.
“You can’t have that down time like that. You can’t get that fat. You can’t get out of shape,” he said. “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.”
The amount of doubt and criticism Pimblett has been getting since joining the UFC is common. He has admitted himself that he gets out of shape while out of training camp. He does however get right back in shape during camp and has not missed weight since early in his career. Taking these kinds of comments from other fighters comes with the territory, and Pimblett isn’t letting it slide.
https://twitter.com/theufcbaddy/status/1532428210377482240
“Not as sensitive as ur body to that EPO when u cheated,” Pimbeltt wrote on Twitter. “Still didn’t win what an embarrassment u are. I’ll still be here in 11 years if I haven’t already retired with a proper legacy not tainted like urs & also a lot more money in my pocket than you’ve ever earned night son.”
Pimblett fights in the lightweight division and Dillashaw is a bantamweight so the odds of this back-and-forth banter is unlikely to end in an actual fight. Pimblett has his next UFC assignment all set up in front of him. He will be facing Jordan Leavitt at UFC London in July. Dillashaw is still waiting for his next fight.
