UFC star Paddy Pimblett admits the uproar surrounding his latest win bothered him.
‘The Baddy’ entered his fight at UFC 282 in December 2022 as the most exciting prospect on the roster following three successive stoppage victories.
However, he struggled when he fought MMA veteran Jared Gordon and needed to rely on the judges – who all scored the fight 29-28 to him – for the first time in his UFC career.
Post-fight, the 28-year-old boldly claimed he won every round while fight fans and pundits took to social media to voice their frustration about the decision.
A few months later, Pimblett still thinks he won the fight but now accepts it was much closer than he initially realised.
He told MMA Junkie: “I still think I won. I won the first two rounds. The first round was closer than I thought on the night. I’ve watched it back.
“On the night I thought he only hit me with about two left hooks. I watched it back and he hit me with about six, seven. But yeah, I watched it back and I thought I won the first two rounds.
“I thought he won the third by just pushing me against the wall, but I think he got about two significant strikes that round all together. I ended up getting him down. So, it’s however you scored the first round. But I scored the two rounds to me.
“If everyone wants to see it again, I don’t mind beating him at the end of the year, lad. Hopefully, he beats Bobby Green (on April 22), then if he wants to fight toward the back end of the year, I’m game.”
Nate Diaz tweeted following Pimblett’s latest win: “Bruh? You lost that fight.”
Most read in MMA
Joe Rogan, who was commentating at UFC 282, was caught on camera rolling his eyes at the decision and later explained that he thought the Englishman should’ve had his first Octagon loss.
He said on his podcast: "Jared Gordon got f**** and that's unfortunate. I don't like when someone gets by just because they're famous and they have this big personality, and everybody loves them.
“The problem with that is people are gonna be rooting against him now in the next fight and so now he's gonna go in there against someone and maybe he's gonna go in against someone who's on another level."
The Liverpool-mad fighter claims he’s not bothered about how most people view his last fight but admits receiving criticism from Diaz and Rogan bothered him.
Pimblett added: “I don’t care what most armchairs say to be honest.
"That doesn’t bother me. When pros like Nate Diaz and that say that you’re not winning, Joe Rogan says that you don’t win, that’s when you think, ‘F****** hell.’
“But people sitting on their armchair and comment on my YouTube and my Instagram, I don’t care about it. It’s actual pros who thought I lost.”
Pimblett suffered a leg injury in the fight and is expected to be out of action for the majority of 2023 but is more than happy to rematch Gordon when he returns.
However, he would also happily take on Logan Paul after the YouTuber called him out last year.
Read More on talkSPORT
Speaking on MMA Junkie, Pimblett said: "He called me a clout-chaser years ago. He's clout-chasing me all the time, mentioning my name.
"If he ever wants to fight in UFC, he's more than welcome. I'll be there waiting for him and we'll fight."
ncG1vNJzZmiskaG4tLzOq6tnm5%2BifLS8zquraKWdlnxyf5Nva2xtX6WupbDYZqeipZKhsrXAjK6dnGVibX9ur9Giq6Kbmai6brrArZxmnJmWx262zp5kq6eXlrtutsCrnJ1ll6S%2FpbvNaA%3D%3D