Demetrious Johnson did not expect Paddy Pimblett‘s strategy to be brawling with Justin Gaethje.
Pimblett (23-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC) was battered and outlasted in a unanimous decision loss to Gaethje (27-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) for the interim lightweight title in Saturday’s UFC 324 headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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Johnson thought Pimblett had a big advantage in the grappling, but was surprised when “The Baddy” abandoned that and decided to stand and trade.
“I’m shocked Paddy has not shot a double leg,” Johnson said on his YouTube channel. “For how good his grappling is, I’m very shocked by that. It’s MMA. You have such a clear advantage over somebody in a grappling. I just feel he does, but he can’t get him there. You don’t have the f*cking hands to knock him out.
“And he’s pulling away – for somebody with good grappling, it’s like, go underneath, shoot a takedown. Stop trying to f*cking grab. He’s trying to fight a bull, but you don’t have the power to to beat the bull. The bull is strong there – shoot. He shot when he was hurt, he didn’t shoot when he was fresh. Paddy is tough as f*cking nails, I’ll give him that.”
Pimblett showed grit after getting knockdown multiple times in the early rounds, but rallying to win Round 3. However, Gaethje proved to be too much throughout the five rounds as he went onto capture his second UFC interim lightweight title.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Demetrious Johnson shocked by Paddy Pimblett’s game plan at UFC 324
