Paddy Pimblett has largely remained quiet following his UFC interim title loss, until now.
In a lengthy video posted to his YouTube account, the English star rewatched his unanimous decision loss to Justin Gaethje, which took place at UFC 324 in January, and came away questioning the result of the fight, along with the officiating. Pimblett (23-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC) was poked in both eyes during the fight. He thinks a point should’ve been taken away, and he claims his performance was badly affected.
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“I don’t want to sound like a sore loser, but that changes the whole fight,” Pimblett said. “I’ll be honest, he hit me afterwards because he hit me and started elbowing me, but I easily win the third round. So imagine if that never happens in the second. … My depth perception is off, they’re shouting at me to get the takedown, but sometimes he looks far away, sometimes he looks close.”
Pimblett saw himself winning two of the five rounds upon rewatching the fight. Should there have been a point deduction, Gaethje doesn’t go home with the UFC interim lightweight title.
“For me, I win three and five,” Pimblett explained. “If got point took off like he should’ve, lad, that’s a draw. I don’t want to sound bitter, you can’t cry over spilled milk, but I feel a bit. I know how Jared Gordon felt, I’ll put it that way. I knew the scorecards weren’t going to be in our favor. That’s why I did that little, ‘I don’t know,’ to my mom and my dad because I half knew I lost. You can see my eye is bright red there. It should’ve all been 48-47.”
Pimblett was on a seven-fight winning streak in the promotion. The defeat to Gaethje was his first inside the octagon. Although a setback, Pimblett feels pretty optimistic about his career. He feels he took a big stride, and sees the UFC lightweight title in his near future.
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“I know I’m going to be a world champion anyway,” Pimblett said. “It’s just going to be a little bit later than expected. That would’ve been interim, and you know how people talk about me. It would’ve been, ‘Oh, he’s an interim, not a real world champ.’ So when I win it now it’s going to be undisputed and nobody is going to say nothing.”
As far as what’s next, Pimblett said he sustained no real damage despite the visuals of the fight. He’s ready to go and would like to make a return in the summer against any top lightweight.
“I’ll fight anyone, I just want whatever name gets sent to me – I sign the contract, and I fight them, but Saint-Denis sounds good to me,” Pimblett said. “Europe’s two best lightweights going at it against each other, or get the winner or the loser of Max (Holloway) vs. Charles (Oliveira). F*ck, I’ll fight Arman. I don’t give a f*ck. I’ll fight anyone, but I’ll be back in the summer.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Paddy Pimblett: UFC title loss to Justin Gaethje should’ve been a draw
