5 UFC stars who got out of shape between their fights

The UFC is undoubtedly home to some of the world’s best athletes, and unsurprisingly, most of them are in phenomenal shape. However, when they’re between fights, this isn’t always the case.

Over the years we’ve seen a number of top UFC fighters come into their fights in incredible shape, only to let themselves go somewhat once their training camps are over.

While this is often amusing for fans, who get to see a more human side to their favourite fighters, it can also be an issue for the athlete going forward for more than one reason.

With that in mind, here are five UFC fighters who got out of shape between their fights.

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#5. Paddy Pimblett – UFC lightweight contender

Paddy Pimblett is happy to admit that he eats junk food between his fights

Right now, there are few hotter fighters in the UFC than lightweight prospect Paddy Pimblett. ‘The Baddy’ has skyrocketed to fame in the past year thanks to his two wins inside the octagon, and it looks like he’s got the potential to become a major star, particularly in the UK market.

However, the Liverpool native has also quickly gained a reputation for being a fighter who gets worryingly out of shape between his fights, to the point where he’s almost unrecognizable when he isn’t in camp.

Incredibly, Pimblett – who weighs in at 155lbs for his lightweight bouts in the octagon – reportedly ballooned up to a ludicrous 202lbs following his win over Kazula Vargas earlier this year.

Hilariously, he’s made literally no secret of his love for fast food and desserts – making it almost a mystery quite how he manages to come into his fights with remarkably low bodyfat levels.

Pimblett’s shape between fights hasn’t gone unnoticed by his fellow fighters, though. Recently, former bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw slammed him, stating that he was “loving diabetes” and that Pimblett’s weight gain was a recipe for destroying his body.

Unsurprisingly, ‘The Baddy’ quickly hit back – reminding Dillashaw that he was once renowned for his own weight gain between fights, even to the point that he sold t-shirts with his bloated face and the slogan ‘Fat Tyler’ on them.

For now, at least, Pimblett’s weight gain between fights hasn’t affected his performances, which have remained stellar – but whether it’ll catch up with him in the future remains to be seen.

#4. Darren Till – UFC middleweight contender

Darren Till famously revealed his weight gain during the COVID-19 pandemic

Like his fellow Liverpudlian fighter Paddy Pimblett, current UFC middleweight contender Darren Till has gained a reputation for letting his weight get somewhat out of control when he isn’t in training camp for a bout in the octagon.

‘The Gorilla’ was once a svelte welterweight, although the struggles he would regularly go through to make that division’s 170lbs cut-off limit were well documented. In 2018, for instance, he missed weight by 3.5lbs for his clash with Stephen Thompson, and looked painfully drained on the scale.

A move to 185lbs in late 2019 seemed to have solved Till’s weight cutting issues – but hilariously, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, ‘The Gorilla’ posted an Instagram photo that seemed to show an even more alarming weight gain.

At the time, of course, the UFC was on hold and so Till was not preparing for any fight. However, to see him in such bizarre shape – something he credited to a diet of junk food – was still highly amusing and also alarming.

Since then, of course, Till has made the 185lbs middleweight limit for multiple fights without any issues, suggesting that his weight problems may well be behind him now.

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#3. Mark Munoz – former UFC middleweight contender

Mark Munoz ballooned worryingly after his 2012 loss to Chris Weidman, forcing him to undertake a dramatic weight loss

One of the best middleweights of his generation, Mark Munoz never quite reached a UFC title shot during his six-year run with the promotion, but he still picked up a number of huge wins, including victories over Demian Maia and Chris Leben.

At his peak, Munoz was a ripped 185lber who never failed to make the middleweight cut-off limit, something that was slightly surprising given that he won his NCAA Division I wrestling title while competing at 197lbs.

However, ‘The Filipino Wrecking Machine’ was also renowned for gaining tremendous amounts of weight between his fights – particularly if they came with long gaps between them – and famously documented this in the build for his 2013 clash with Tim Boetsch.

Through a series of posts on social media, Munoz revealed that following his 2012 loss to Chris Weidman, he’d ballooned in weight all the way up to 261lbs – putting him nearly 100lbs over his fighting weight.

According to ‘The Filipino Wrecking Machine’, depression following the Weidman fight was to blame for the weight gain, and it took five months for him to get back down to 199lbs, after which he performed his regular cut to 185lbs.

Thankfully, the weight gain and loss didn’t seem to affect him, as he produced one of his career-best performances to down ‘The Barbarian’ – showing that a dramatic weight gain isn’t always destructive.

#2. Johny Hendricks – former UFC welterweight champion

Johny Hendricks' weight issues ended up damaging his reputation with the fans

One of the most infamous examples of a fighter who would get out of shape between his fights remains former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks. In his prime, ‘Bigg Rigg’ was a truly fantastic fighter, but whether he could’ve achieved more had he been more disciplined with his weight remains a fair question to ask.

To be fair, Hendricks’ weight issues didn’t actually raise their head until later in his UFC career, largely after his most successful period that saw him defeat Robbie Lawler for welterweight gold. Prior to that, he never failed to make the 170lbs limit for the division.

However, the fact that he would gain large amounts of weight between his fights was already well-documented at that stage, and his issues quickly came to the forefront when he was forced out of a 2015 clash with Tyron Woodley due to a weight-cutting failure.

In 2016, Hendricks claimed to have his weight under control – even bragging in an interview prior to his clash with Kelvin Gastelum that he could still eat burgers as long as he avoided the fries that usually came with them.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t really the case, as ‘Bigg Rigg’ missed weight for that bout – and went onto miss weight a further two times during his career, including in a middleweight fight with Tim Boetsch that saw him weigh a ludicrous 188lbs.

In the end, Hendricks’ weight issues made him somewhat of a comical figure in the eyes of the fans – something that his legacy probably didn’t deserve, given his outstanding wins over the likes of Lawler, Carlos Condit and Jon Fitch.

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#1. Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson – former UFC light-heavyweight champion

Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson began to struggle with his weight in the latter stages of his career

Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson might’ve been one of the most feared men in MMA during his peak years, but he was also renowned for gaining plenty of weight between his fights.

Sure, it’s true that Jackson never failed to make the 205lbs light-heavyweight limit during his peak years – only missing weight once in the UFC for a 2012 bout with Ryan Bader – but there were also notable instances of him struggling on the scale, too.

Most notably, ‘Rampage’ appeared to be bloated and out of shape prior to his 2010 grudge match with Rashad Evans – and during the build-up for that fight, it was well-documented that a great deal of his training camp was centered around him getting his weight down.

Unsurprisingly, the fight itself saw Jackson struggle to match the pace of Evans – arguably proving the point of his doubters – as he lost a three-round decision.

‘Rampage’ did rebound from the loss by picking up big wins over Lyoto Machida and Matt Hamill, but later in his career – once he’d left the UFC – his weight issues reared their head again, causing him to take a number of catchweight fights, rather than cutting to 205lbs.

In his most recent fight, meanwhile, Jackson moved to heavyweight and suffered a loss to Fedor Emelianenko – after which he stated that he “felt like a hippopotamus out there”.