Sean O'Malley thinks Paddy Pimblett needs to make some improvements after UFC 282.
Pimblett (20-3 MMA, 4-0 UFC) capped off his 2022 unbeaten in the octagon when he scored a unanimous decision win over Jared Gordon in this past Saturday’s co-main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
But Pimblett’s win came with a big asterisk. Many, including O’Malley, were surprised to see him get his hand raised. Gordon gave Pimblett all he could handle, but the judges awarded Pimblett the win.
O’Malley knows what it’s like to be part of a controversial decision. Many disagreed with the judges who gave him a win against Petr Yan at UFC 280. But O’Malley thinks Pimblett’s fight with Gordon should be a wakeup call.
“I bet Paddy takes away from that fight and goes, ‘OK, I need to f*cking dial in. This is the time where I need to dial in – not get fat as f*ck and get skilled. Get more skills,'” O’Malley said on “The Timbo Sugar Show” podcast. “Because he has skills. He knows how to perform. He’s not bad. He has a lot of potential. Where is he going to direct his energy? Is he going to get better? Is he going to get fatter? We will see.
“I couldn’t believe how confident he was after. He was like, ‘I won that fight.'”
Pimblett is known to balloon up in between fights, which UFC president Dana White even showed concern for. But the 27-year-old star insists he doesn’t cut too much weight and has never has missed weight in the UFC.
