Paddy Pimblett's controversial victory over Jared Gordon has been called "one of the worst UFC decisions ever" by legendary fighter Henry Cejudo.
The former two-weight world champion was stunned as he watched ring announcer Bruce Buffer announce Pimblett had been awarded the unanimous decision in Saturday's UFC 282 co-main event. The Brit had fought a tough three rounds against Gordon, who had never lost on the scorecards, but many felt Pimblett lost the first and third rounds, with some arguing he also lost the second.
And Cejudo believes the decision was truly scandalous, and should go down as one of the worst in the promotion's history. The fighter, who is returning for a world title effort against Aljamain Sterling next year, has had an issue with UFC judging since the UFC 280 bout between Sean O'Malley and Petr Yan, which saw O'Malley win a similarly controversial split decision.
“I think the judges stole the show on this card," Cejudo said in a video on his YouTube channel. "Some of the judging, it was just absolutely ridiculous. You almost have to put these judges under fire because it’s like, what are you watching? I truly don’t understand.
“Paddy the Fatty, I just don’t know what to say. A lot of these guys are just delusional thinking that they’re better than what they really are. He lost that fight I think the whole world saw that that’s one of the worst decisions ever... Talk about complete robbery. I has nothing to do really with Paddy. It has to do with the judges.
“This isn’t a popularity contest. First they did it with Sean O’Malley against Petr Yan. I just really don’t get it, that was just a terrible decision from the judges standpoint. These judges absolutely suck.”
What did you make of Paddy Pimblett's win over Jared Gordon? Let us know how you would have scored it in the comments section below!
Pimblett has a completely different viewpoint of his victory, insisting the bout wasn't all that close and that he comfortably won his fourth octagon outing. He reckons that fan sentiment against him is the reason for people calling the decision a "robbery", and has implored critics to "suck my a******".
"I know I won that fight," Pimblett told reporters at the post-fight press conference. "I deal in facts and I won an unanimous decision, it wasn't even like it was a split decision. I don't care what anyone says. When you look back at the history books, I've got a green marker next to my name so everyone else can suck my a***hole.
"Look at his face and then look at mine, fights get scored on damage now and I landed a lot more damage. After looking at the stats after the fight, I think I won all three rounds. Control time means nothing, damage does. I spoke to him in the back, he said to me 'I thought I won'. I told him he was a tough son of a b**** because he took some big shots and kept walking forward."
