UFC 282 saw Paddy Pimblett go to the scorecards against fellow unranked fighter Jared Gordon. This was “The Baddy’s” 4th UFC appearance and although his hype train had been rolling along with no end insight this fight definitely put a damper on things. This fight was the first on the card to go to a decision and it did go Pimblett’s way, much to the chagrin of the MMA community. There is no doubt Pimblett has strong Jui-Jitsu skills and solid grappling but his biggest issue that was very prevalent in this fight is his mediocre striking which was exposed most of the fight by Gordon. All three judges gave the fight to Pimblett and social media response online was quick to point out the so called “Dana White Privilege” coined by Tony Ferguson.
Looking at this fight purely by the numbers it is a bit head scratching how Pimblett was given the nod, not only by one judge but by all three. Jared Gordon out struck Paddy 100-97 in total strikes but landed a much better percentage with his 69.9% compared to Pimblett’s 50%. Pimblett had the slight edge in significant strikes 69 to 58, but it does not feel as this should be the deciding factor in gifting a victory to a fighter looking at the other aspects. Gordon in this fight was able to land several takedowns 3/6 with an astonishing 6:28 of control time to Pimblett’s 0:35 seconds. The numbers on the fight seem to go Gordon’s way and although Paddy had convincingly taken the second round it feels as though Gordon should have won the first and third.
UFC President Dana White at the post fight press conference discussed how Gordon’s game plan in the third lacked and he did nothing with the takedowns he landed but there is some feeling amongst the community that this was trying to protect his next hype train, who some feel White is trying to groom to be the sport’s next McGregor. MMA Scoring can be difficult to understand at times, however the first priority is effective striking/grappling which if Gordon amassed so much control time in the third round against some with such sound Jui-Jitsu it feels as though this should have been pushed harder. The effectiveness is followed by aggressiveness, and then octagon control, so even if the first criteria were felt even by the judges, it seems as though Gordon should have gotten the edge in the latter two. Two out of the three judges gave Gordon the third round, and so the first round it considered the most contentious. The first round saw the photo that has been plastered all over social media, of Gordon blasting Paddy with a hard right hook. The striking of this round seems as though it should’ve went to Gordon, due to Paddy constantly hanging his hands low, and the majority of online media outlets had it 29-28 for Gordon. Paddy had been in hot water with the community in recent weeks anyway as his issues with premier MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, had some fans turning on him as Helwani is the most respected journalist in the sport and has the respect of everyone in the community. Obviously calls went to rigged or fixed fights right away online, however, there has been bad judging before in MMA and attempting to delegitimize the sport is counter productive to everything everyone who follows and loves this sport has tried to build up for the last two decades.
This now leaves Pimblett in an interesting spot however, as similar to the Chimaev fight versus Burns his weaknesses were certainly exposed and going back to the drawing board it is going to be an extremely difficult camp next time out. Lightweight has often been considered the most stacked or best talent pool in the UFC and for Pimblett to break into the top 15 he’d have to really alter his style. Currently even the fighters ranked 10-15 would give Pimblett a lot of trouble with names such as Tony Ferguson, Dan Hooker and Renato Moicano certainly present far superior striking and overall well roundedness compared to Pimblett.
The best course of action for Paddy might be to fight another unranked guy and try to redeem himself by improving striking, but also preserving his likeability to the MMA community, as even other fighters were calling out the awful decision online. Fighting another unranked opponent at lightweight could provide Pimblett a better opportunity to improve his overall game and then be able to call out a 10-15 ranked opponent. There is no doubt he has a lot of talent, but to propel someone into the upper echelon of the division without a lot of backing could see a demolished hype train ala Darren Till. Pimblett needs to make sure he is ready for the elite at 155 lbs, and right now there is definitely doubts starting to develop. There is no doubt Paddy has the personality to be a fan favorite and poster boy for the promotion as his career continues but his overall fighter style needs to improve if he really wants to be someone like McGregor. Conor showcased his talent against different fighters especially in his Chad Mendes fight, and if Paddy wants to reach those levels he needs to improve soon, before the community turns on him.