Paddy Pimblett has been defended by Chael Sonnen after many claimed his "stock dropped" following his win against Jared Gordon.
The Liverpudlian star has become one of the most recognised names on the UFC roster in the last two years, having won all of his fights since joining the promotion. In his most recent outing, Pimblett picked up a decision victory over Gordon in December to continue his progress at 155lb.
However, many were up in arms about the decision, with critics suggesting Gordon was unfortunate to not have his hand raised. UFC legend Sonnen has had his say, conceding that Pimblett is still the fighter most likely from the card to be involved in a main event following his recent performance.
"[The post-fight comments] Dropped his stock, it hurt him. It made him from beloved to hated overnight," Sonnen said during a video on his YouTube channel when discussing Pimblett's reaction to his win over Gordon. "That was a hard thing for me to see because it was so wildly obviously not true. Then let's look at what the other option would've been.
"I guess you would have 'Paddy The Baddy' do what Jan Blachowicz did and say, 'I lost the fight'. Do you believe that Blachowicz is in a better spot career wise and popularity wise than 'Paddy the Baddy' right now? They both had highly controversial decisions and one handled it like Paddy had and one like Blachowicz. Michael Bisping was bringing up that he could have done things differently."
Shortly after the final bell, Pimblett defended the decision from the officials and insisted 'control time' was not a factor to measure who won the fight. He said at the post-fight press conference: “Everyone’s got an opinion, lad. Opinions are like a**holes: Everyone’s got one. I know I won that fight, simple as. I deal in facts, and I won by unanimous decision.
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"It’s not like it was a split decision. Look at his face and look at mine. Fights get scored on damage now. I landed a lot more damage. End of. I’m me, lad. Just ’cause it’s me – I don’t know. I was sitting next to Dominick Cruz before, and I said to him, ‘Control time means nothing, it’s about damage’. Look at my face, look at his. I’ve got the little green marker next to my name, so everyone else can suck me a**hole.”
It remains unclear what is next for Pimblett following his tough outing against Gordon, but it is likely he will look to feature on the UFC 286 pay-per-view card in London later this year. The 27-year-old has conceded he is no rush to challenge the top 15 in the division and is willing to take up to four years to chase his dream of becoming division champion.
