Laura Sanko believes Paddy Pimblett could have handled things better at UFC 282.
The UFC superstar would extend his winning streak to a perfect 4-0 inside the Octagon, defeating Jared Gordon by split decision in the co-headliner of UFC 282. But, not everybody agreed with the judges scorecards as many thought Gordon did more than enough to beat Pimblett.
Despite the controversial result, the confident and brash Pimblett remained his usual confident and brash self in his post-fight interview. Speaking to Rogan, Pimblett said the fight ‘wasn’t close’ and claimed he won the first two rounds before ‘coasting’ in the final round.
Pimblett Did A ‘Disservice’
UFC analyst Sanko says ‘The Baddy’ did himself a ‘disservice’ for how he acted post-fight.
“I think he did himself a little bit of a disservice,” Sanko told Submission Radio. “Not in how he fought. He can’t control what the judges do or don’t do. He’s got a character and he’s not playing a character cause it really is who he is. But, you lean into certain aspects of your personality and Paddy’s done such a good job of being brash and confident. But at the same time, also having this really great component of mental health and wanting to help people and giving back to the community.
“To have those things at the same time I think it’s a winning formula. But then when you have that moment where I feel like a lot of the audience wanted him to say, ‘man, that was a close fight, I don’t know if I won that fight or not. I’m glad I got it on the judge’s scorecards. I’ll have to go back and watch it. Jared’s great.’ I think his reaction to it did him a little bit of a disservice.”
‘The Baddy’s’ Future
Following a close fight with Gordon, Sanko believes it’s only going to get harder and harder for Pimblett from here on out.
“What I think will happen to his trajectory next year, that’s really gonna depend on what he does in the gym,” Sanko continued. “Now that he’s beaten Jared Gordon, he’s gonna get tougher and tougher opponents. Supposedly he’s gotta go back and work on, on some of the things that Jared was able to exploit in that fight.
“Because the reality is Jared is not a knockout artist and he’s a shorter guy with shorter arms and he was still able to find Paddy quite a bit.”
