Paddy Pimblett admitted that his fight against Jared Gordon was more competitive than he initially believed, but maintained that he was the rightful winner.
Paddy Pimblett has changed his perspective on his fight against Jared Gordon, admitting that it may not have been as clear-cut as he initially believed. In an interview with Bleacher Report, Pimblett acknowledged that his controversial unanimous decision over Gordon at UFC 282 was more competitive than he first suspected. However, he maintained confidence that the rightful man ultimately won. “I [initially] thought I won two rounds to one, and I watched the fight back, and I thought I won two rounds to one. I’ll be honest, it was a lot closer than I thought it was,” Pimblett said. “I never dominated, but I think the only clear round in the whole fight is the second, and that’s for me. The third round, he just holds me. He doesn’t really do nothing.”
Back in December, the 28-year-old UFC lightweight expressed frustration and bewilderment at the reaction to his win over Gordon. He argued with UFC commentator Dominick Cruz in the immediate aftermath of UFC 282 that there was “no chance” of a judge scoring the bout for Gordon and dismissed any criticism of the result as “just because people hate me.” Even as recently as February, Pimblett rallied against veteran MMA voices Joe Rogan and Nate Diaz for stating their beliefs that Gordon should’ve won the fight.
Twenty-three of the 24 media scores posted to MMADecisions.com scored the fight for Gordon, as did 90.8 percent of the fan scoring on the database website. Eleven of the 23 media scorecards for Gordon awarded the American a clean sweep, 30-27 in his favor. Pimblett’s latest comments came just days after he openly challenged Gordon to a late-2023 rematch in a profane video shot from his hospital bed following ankle surgery. “I want to punch his head in toward the end of the year,” a heated Pimblett said on his YouTube channel. “I am going to run it back. I hope he beats Bobby Green, because I’ll snap his arm for him in a round. Had a boxing match with him and I still won, because you’re s***. I hope he watched this. You’re f****** dog s***. At my worst, you couldn’t beat me at your best. Injured, everything going wrong, and you couldn’t beat me on my worst day, and I beat you on your best, because you’re a little bum.”
Gordon is currently scheduled to face Green on April 22 at UFC Vegas 72. Pimblett is unbeaten through four fights in his UFC career. His duel with Gordon was the first bout of his octagon run to go to the scorecards. Pimblett said he expects his ankle to heal within six to 10 weeks. That, along with a wedding in May and ensuing honeymoon with his fiancée Laura Gregory, has Pimblett eyeing a UFC return around “the back end” of 2023. If that return comes against Gordon, Pimblett is up for it. However, the UFC lightweight scoffed at the suggestion that any perceived UFC favoritism played a part in his win. “People try to say, ‘Oh, it’s because he’s Dana [White]’s boy,’” Pimblett said. “How am I Dana’s boy? He came on my podcast. I’m not his boy. I’m just a fighter on his roster. People say he influences judges. He can’t. That’s got nothing to do with it. I thought I won. A lot of people in the crowd thought I won. When I’ve spoken to people, a lot have shared that with the commentary and stuff, people thought that Jared Gordon won. But then, when they watched it back without the commentary on, they thought I won.”