I was a bit offended because he's been picking easy fights - Jordan Leavitt reacts to getting matched up against Paddy Pimblett
Paddy Pimblett returns to action on July 23 when the UFC returns to London for their second big show of the year and he's been matched up against 'The Monkey King' Jordan Leavitt.
Leavitt is on a 3-1 run since arriving in the UFC off a slick arm triangle submission win on Dana White's Contender Series in 2020. Most recently he took a tough split decision win over Trey Ogden, and he suspects that performance may have given Pimblett's team the idea that he was beatable.
In a new interview with 'The Schmo,' Leavitt described his reaction to getting booked versus Pimblett:
“Honestly I was a bit offended because he’s been kind of picking fights that are easy. I’m like, I must have looked really bad in my last fight to get this fight. So very flattered, kind of offended, but also excited.”
We got ourselves a dance off!
Paddy Pimblett vs. Jordan Leavitt
July 23
#UFCLondon https://t.co/LhGmKs4IJ1
Leavitt isn't just aiming to beat Pimblett and disappoint the UK fighter's home country crowd. He wants to take the fight so dominantly that Pimblett has to do a rematch in Leavitt's backyard of Las Vegas. He said:
"I could finish him in the first round, he could use the excuse of a bad weight cut. We rematch at the T-Mobile Arena. I get Paddy Pimblett twice, let's get this thing out of the way right now, right this year, don't have to worry about it in the future. Because I want Paddy Pimblett while we're both young, we're both in the prime of our lives, and I want to beat him twice hopefully."
Watch Jordan Leavitt discuss the Pimblett fight below:
Paddy Pimblett is dropping weight fast as he prepares for UFC London in July
Pimblett is coming off a rousing first round submission win over Rodrigo Vargas at the last UFC London in March 2022. 'The Baddy' followed that win up by gaining a ton of weight eating everything he could get his hands on.
During one YouTube video blog, Pimblett estimated that he ate over 10,000 calories. By the end of the clip, he stepped on the scale at over 200 pounds, 45 pounds heavier than he weighed in just weeks before.
Watch Paddy Pimblett pack on the pounds below:
He has now stopped eating excessively and is burning through all that extra weight in the gym. A recent image from Chris Williams' boxing gym in Liverpool seems to show Pimblett well on his way back down to lightweight.