That would explain why the ‘Baddy’ is so confident in finishing Gordon in the first round.
Paddy Pimblett is very familiar with Jared Gordon.
Ahead of their upcoming fight at UFC 282 on Saturday, the ‘Baddy’ revealed that he and ‘Flash’ rolled together in the Blue Basement at Renzo Gracie Academy over four years ago.
“I’ve rolled with Jared Gordon, you know? In the Blue Basement in 2018,” said Pimblett in a recent interview with Michael Bisping for BT Sport. “…Rolled with him and submitted him twice in five minutes. Guillotine [choke] and triangle [choke]. I don’t think he can remember that. I was a big, fat bastard then. I was about 90 kilos [approximately 198 pounds].
“…I’ve submitted him twice in five minutes when I was fat and out of shape,” continued Pimblett. “And I had a broken hand. That was before I had my surgery. So in the past four-and-a-half years — that was early March 2018. The improvements that I’ve made over the past four-and-a-half-years, they’re ridiculous, lad. And I’m a completely different fighter now.”
When the encounter was revealed during the pre-fight press conference on Thursday, both men had different accounts of what exactly happened. Pimblett repeated his version, saying he had no reason to lie about rolling with Gordon.
But Gordon begged to differ, saying that the only time he and Pimblett had ‘physical contact’ was this week.
“I’ve never rolled with you,” said Gordon. “We never touched each other until I hugged you on Tuesday. I have no reason to talk about this anymore. You’re lying.”
As confident as Pimblett is in submitting Gordon again, the Kill Cliff FC product has only one loss by submission — to Grant Dawson at UFC Vegas 53 this past April — in his professional career. He has since rebounded with a unanimous decision over Leonardo Santos at UFC 278 in August.
UFC 282 goes down on Saturday, December 10, live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Pimblett vs. Gordon serves as the co-headliner.