Dana White wasn’t a fan of Jared Gordon’s approach in the Paddy Pimblett fight.
While many believed Gordon did more than enough to beat Pimblett at UFC 282, the judges didn’t see it that way. ‘The Baddy’ would get the unanimous decision nod, winning two rounds out of three on the official scorecards.
White Sounds Off
Following the questionable decision, White criticized Gordon for how he performed in the fight. The UFC boss believed Gordon lacked the will to win, pointing out his grueling game-plan in the final round, where he pressed Pimblett to the cage for the majority of the five minutes.
“Gordon had a horrible game plan going into that third round,” White said at the UFC 282 post-fight presser (h/t: MMA Fighting). “You think you won the first two rounds with the judges? How do you know that? Why go in there and throw away the third round and not go in and fight your ass off and try to win.
“If you think you know who won what round or whatever, you’re crazy. I’ve been doing this for 23 years. I have no f*cking idea what those guys are going to do or what they’re going to say.”
‘He Threw The Fight Away’
White continued in his rant, insinuating Gordon coasted in the last round against Pimblett and let the fight get away from him.
“I thought that Jared Gordon’s game plan in the third round was horrible,” White added. “He felt that he had the first two rounds and he went in and pushed him against the fence and I’ve got to go after the ref [Herb Dean], too. A big fight, co-main event, third round, crowd’s going crazy, you’re going to let them stand against the fence the entire fight?
“But these are the things that happen. What are you going to do? Horrible game plan by Gordon. The ref let it happen and he threw the fight away. He was doing great in that fight, he should have fought the third round.
“Don’t go out in the third round and think you won the first two rounds and push a guy against the cage when you were doing great in the fight anyway. You were doing great in the fight. Go out and fight the f*cking third round.”
While the UFC boss disapproved of Gordon’s methods in the final round, ‘Flash’ did end up winning the round with his clinch control on two judges scorecards.
Dana White claimed Jared Gordon should have fought in the final round, but that could have been a criticism directed to Pimblett instead, because the Brit revealed post-fight he did ‘coast’ in round 3 after thinking he had two rounds in the bag already. But, it looks like White might have missed that, given his harsh comments towards Gordon.
