Joe Giannetti vs. Paddy Pimblett off Cage Warriors 111 after big weight miss

Paddy Pimblett will not be stepping into the cage on Friday after all.

The former Cage Warriors champion was scheduled to take on Joe Giannetti in a lightweight bout at Cage Warriors 111 in London. The bout was scratched from the card after Giannetti missed weight Thursday, and Pimblett refused to accept the bout at a catchweight.

Pimblett (14-3) weighed in at 154.7 pounds; Giannetti (8-2-1) tipped the scale at 163.8, more than seven pounds above the limit.

Pimblett posted the news of the cancellation on social media, which the promotion later announced.

So what an eventful weigh inI step on the scales at 154.7 like a true pro my opponent then steps on the scales at 163.8& then sits down& starts eating& drinking immediately didn’t even consider going in the sauna when if he wudda got to 160lbs all this cud have been avoided….

It looks like the fight is going to be off as he was unwilling to do any sort of compromise to make any sort of weight all the best to joe in the future but my career is too important to get (expletive) over like this but he’s known he was gonna miss& not batted an eyelid sorry ppl

Giannetti took the fight on short notice, replacing injured Donovan Desmae with just a little bit over a week until fight night. “The Ultimate Fighter” veteran was looking to build on his Keenan Raymond win in September. Giannetti is 2-1-1 since leaving the UFC in 2018.

On the other hand, Pimblett was looking compete in MMA for the first time in 2019. The Liverpool native last fought in September 2018, losing to Soren Bak for the then-vacant Cage Warriors lightweight title.

Cage Warriors 11 will go down Friday and stream on UFC Fight Pass. Three title fights headline the card in James Webb vs. Nathias Frederick, Mads Burnell vs. Steve Aimable, and Modestas Bukauskas vs. Riccardo Nosiglia.