Ariel Helwani believes the unanimous decision for Paddy Pimblett over Jared Gordon at UFC 282 was one of the worst decisions in UFC history.
There is certainly no love lost between ‘The MMA Hour’ host and Pimblett, but you can’t accuse Helwani of being biased considering the entire MMA community seemingly turned on ‘The Baddy’ following Saturday’s co-main event. It appeared as though the Liverpudlian would suffer his first defeat inside the Octagon to opponent Jared ‘Flash’ Gordon. Instead, all three judges confusingly scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Pimblett.
Appearing on ‘The Ringer MMA Show‘ on YouTube, Ariel Helwani discussed the controversial decision and comfortably labeled it as one of the worst decisions in the history of the UFC.
“After watching that fight guys, and I can’t… We haven’t really talked beforehand so I don’t know what you’re going to say. I believe that is one of the worst decisions in the history of the UFC. I think that was at worst 29-28 Jared Gordon. I think you can make a very strong case for 30-27. I do not know how all three judges. Not one. Not even one dissenter could score that for Paddy Pimblett. All three scored it 29-28 for Paddy Pimblett.
“I don’t know how you can give the first round to Paddy. By the way, in case you’re wondering, these are the scorecards. Doug Crosby gave Paddy the first and second and gave Jared the third. Chris Lee gave Paddy the second and third and Ron McCarthy gave Paddy the second and first. I don’t understand it. I don’t understand how you can’t give him… How you give him the first. I don’t understand how you give him… Honestly, I don’t understand you give him the third. I don’t understand how you give him any round.”
Jared Gordon defeated Paddy Pimblett on the Verdict Scorecard by a significant margin.#UFC282 pic.twitter.com/XD8cayDNmn
— Verdict (@VerdictMMA) December 11, 2022
Even With the Third Round Under Debate, Ariel Helwani Still Believes Paddy Pimblett Lost at UFC 282
Ariel Helwani did acknowledge the up-for-debate third round where Jared Gordon opted to clinch for a majority of the round with little offense offered but still stands by his statement the decision was one of the worst in promotional history.
“That being said, I really do think it’s one of the worst decisions. I feel for Jared Gordon. I thought he fought great. That left hand was landing left, right, and center. I think he will regret the third round. I thought he clinched a little too much. I thought he should have just like disengaged and fought.”
Through three rounds of action, the striking totals were fairly close with Gordon landing just three more strikes than Pimblett over the course of 15 minutes. However, the general consensus believed that the better strikes were landed by Gordon throughout the contest. If that weren’t enough, Gordon also secured three takedowns totaling 6:28 in control time. Pimblett landed zero of his three attempted takedowns.
Media scorecards for Pimblett vs Gordon #UFC282 pic.twitter.com/EeWJFt9Sia
— Andrew Gombas Bets (@BetsandPicksMMA) December 11, 2022
