Paddy Pimblett has hit out at fans and critics who claimed his win over Jared Gordon at UFC 282 was a 'robbery'.
The Liverpool MMA star moved to 20-3 with that unanimous points decision victory, as he rounded a successful 2022 with three victories under the bright lights.
Fans were enraged by the decision to award 'Paddy the Baddy' the victory, with a large majority of people disputing the 29-28 decision.
Pimblett is now 4-0 in the UFC, having defeated Luigi Vendramini, Rodrigo Vargas, Jordan Leavitt and, of course, Gordon.
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Following the victory, Pimblett was left 'baffled' by the claims that his victory was a 'robbery' which he addressed in his post-match press conference.
“I’m bit annoyed after people saying they thought I lost,” Pimblett said during the UFC 282 post-fight show.
“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.”
He justified his victory by explaining that Gordon had taken damage, with the physical marks on his face the evidence he believes is why he had his hand raised.
“Nowadays, fights get scored off damage, and I’ve got a cut lip, that’s it,” he said. “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.”
Whilst fans were certainly enraged over the decision, a whole host of MMA fighters also voiced their distaste on social media.
Umar Nurmagomedov, the unbeaten Bantamweight lauded the decision: "This is #1 Bulls*** decision, how did Paddy Pimblett win this fight??"
Whereas Welterweight Philip Rowe also exclaimed: "The worst decision in
@ufc history. There is an obvious agenda here. Paddy 10000% lost that fight. The UFC has to do better. Insane."
Also Dillon Danis, the 2-0 Bellator competitor and former sparring partner of Conor McGregor who is due to fight KSI in the boxing ring on January 14th, chose to voice his opinion, not holding back on Pimblett's performance: "if i don’t finish Paddy Pimblett in under 2 mins i’ll retire and delete all social media forever plus give everyone who likes this 1k each."
It's safe to say that the verdict was highly controversial and there's no doubting who the fans thought won the bout.
Speaking to Joe Rogan inside the Octagon, he said: "That wasn’t close. I won the first two rounds and then coasted in the third.
"I knew I won the first two rounds easily. Jared’s one tough motherf**ker. Hats off to Jared."
He could return in early 2023 when the UFC returns once again to London, following an electric night of action back in July at the 02 in London.
Topics: Paddy Pimblett, UFC, MMA
George Priestman