- Paddy Pimblett insists he beat Jared Gordon and those who claim a robbery were just “haters”
- “The Baddy” admitted “Flash” had taken control when he relaxed a bit in the final round but it didn’t affect the scorecards
It wasn’t what Paddy Pimblett expected but he still walked away with a unanimous decision win over Jared Gordon in their UFC 282 co-main event bout. In the eyes of many, it should’ve been the other way around, but “The Baddy” could care less about what people say.
Haters could say what they want but a win is a win
Pimblett took the UFC by storm with his flamboyant character but he always backs it up with an impressive performance whenever he steps inside the Octagon. However, some aren’t convinced that “The Baddy” pulled off a clean decision victory over Gordon and label it a robbery.
Numbers-wise, it was pretty even in the striking department as Pimblett landed 63 of his 155 significant strikes, while Gordon was slightly behind with 58/101. However, “Flash” was ahead in total strikes with 100 to Pimblett’s 97. Gordon also appeared to be the more efficient striker, beating Pimblett in precision with 69.9% (Total strikes) to Pimblett’s 50%, and 57.4% (Significant strikes) to Pimblett’s 40.6%. Atop that, “Flash” also dominated “The Baddy” in grappling, taking him down three times, while Pimblett never managed to complete a single takedown in his three attempts.
#UFC282 Official Scorecard: Paddy Pimblett vs Jared Gordon 👇
All Tonight’s Scorecards ➡️: https://t.co/ZOw63NkfWN pic.twitter.com/xS4LbE648K
— UFC News (@UFCNews) December 11, 2022
Regardless of what the stats say, Pimblett is convinced he was the more aggressive fighter and the only round he might have lost was the third and final round. The UFC rising star also advised his “haters” that the fact is that he’s still unbeaten and they just have to move on with it.
“I’m bit annoyed after people saying they thought I lost,” Pimblett said during the UFC 282 post-fight show via MMA Fighting. “I’m pretty annoyed, to be honest. But I’m 4-0 in the UFC – haters going to hate, you’ve got to get on with it.”
“It’s not as thought it was a split decision victory,” he continued. “But I’ll be honest, I thought I won the first two, and I took the third round off. It’s my own stupid fault – you should never take a round off, thinking you’re two rounds up. It goes without saying…I think that’s just because people hate me.”
Pimblett added that people don’t need to look at the stats sheet to see who the real winner is as the damage they incur already speaks volumes.
“Nowadays, fights get scored off damage, and I’ve got a cut lip, that’s it,” Pimblett pointed out. “I did more damage in every single round. His face is beat up. He’s got a busted nose. He’ had a little cut on his head, he had damage around his eyes.”
What about the control time?
UFC commentator and former bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz opened up the argument about “control time,” which Pimblett was quick to address. For “The Baddy,” Cruz was right about Gordon gaining control over him in the third round but he wasn’t able to maximize it and in the end, it didn’t have any impact on scorecards.
“If somebody tells me I have six-and-a-half minutes of control time on me, I would, in my own position, wonder if, ‘Yeah, maybe I could see how you would think that the other person won,’” Cruz offered. “You don’t see that at all from any others, because it’s 15 minutes long…It’s just a question of, ‘We can’t see any other…just 100 percent unanimous decision from your eyes? There’s no chance.”
Pimblett replied:
“I understand what you’re saying there. The control time, in the last round, yeah, he controlled me against the fence, but he didn’t do anything with it. I think I was landing the better knees and little short shots in those positions when he had me pushed against the cage…Even the control time, I don’t see. Like, I’m going to watch the fight back, obviously. Some people have said to me, they think I won all three rounds, even the third, because he never did anything with the control time. I ended up on his back, landing a few shots.”
As things stand, Pimblett is now 4-0 in the UFC. The UFC 282 win over Gordon was the first time “The Baddy” won via decision as he was coming off back-to-back submission victories and a first-round KO win in his UFC debut.
It is yet to be determined if Pimblett will finally break into the lightweight division’s rankings, but he’s surely taking a step closer to becoming a top-15 contender.
