Tag: UFC 282

Paddy Pimblett determined to win back fans in Octagon return: ‘Everyone will be sucking my arse again’

Paddy PimblettPaddy Pimblett is finally willing to admit that his last appearance inside the Octagon left a lot to be desired. ‘The Baddy’ stormed into the UFC in 2021 and quickly emerged as a fan favorite thanks to his high-octane style of fighting and his infectious personality. His star power continued to rise as fans became […]

Paddy Pimblett

Paddy Pimblett is finally willing to admit that his last appearance inside the Octagon left a lot to be desired.

‘The Baddy’ stormed into the UFC in 2021 and quickly emerged as a fan favorite thanks to his high-octane style of fighting and his infectious personality. His star power continued to rise as fans became enamored with the Liverpudlian’s penchant for binge-eating after every fight, gaining and re-losing as much as 50 pounds between scraps. However, things took a turn for the worse following his fourth appearance with the promotion last December.

Paddy Pimblett was thrust into the co-main event of UFC 282 against lightweight standout Jared ‘Flash’ Gordon. After 15 grueling minutes, all signs pointed toward ‘The Baddy’ suffering his first defeat inside the Octagon. Everyone seemingly scored the bout in favor of ‘Flash’ but the only three opinions that mattered didn’t see it that way. All three judges scored the bout for Pimblett via unanimous decision, a ruling that has since been dubbed the worst decision in the history of the sport. It also earned MMA Junkie’s 2022 Robbery of the Year honors. Fans, fighters, and analysts were in shock and immediately called shenanigans on the illogical scoring.

While the decision was no fault of Paddy Pimblett’s, the scouser did no favors for himself by suggesting in his post-fight interview that it was a Fight of the Night worthy performance and a clear-cut win for him. Fans quickly turned on Pimblett after he refused to admit that he had stolen a victory and continued to double-down on his performance in subsequent interviews.

Paddy Pimblett Admits His Performance Against Jared Gordon was ‘Sh*t’

Since then, Paddy Pimblett has revisited the fight and while he still believes he won, ‘The Baddy’ recognizes that his performance was far from his best work.

“I can’t wait (to return). I’m hoping to fight before the end of the year to be honest, kick some little fart’s head in” Pimblett said in a video on his YouTube channel. “I was sh*t in my last fight, lad. It was a bad performance. I’ve said it myself, you’re only as good as your last fight and I looked sh*t. But when I come back, everyone will be sucking my arse again” (h/t MMA News).

Pimblett suffered an ankle injury during the bout that required surgery. Now back in the gym, ‘The Paddy’ hopes to fight before the end of 2023, though early 2024 seems a little more likely given the gravity of the injury. Regardless of when he makes his highly anticipated return, Pimblett seems determined to come back better than ever and regain the respect of fans and his peers.

Aljamain Sterling predicts quick win over Sean O’Malley following UFC 288: ‘I fold that man in half in one round’

Aljamain Sterling predicts win over Sean O'Malley UFC 288 I fold that man in half in one roundExpected to share the Octagon with surging division contender, Sean O’Malley off the back of another successful title defense at UFC 288 last night, undisputed bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling has issued a confident prediction for an earmarked clash this summer. Headlining UFC 288 last night in Newark, New Jersey, Sterling became the first bantamweight champion […]

Aljamain Sterling predicts win over Sean O'Malley UFC 288 I fold that man in half in one round

Expected to share the Octagon with surging division contender, Sean O’Malley off the back of another successful title defense at UFC 288 last night, undisputed bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling has issued a confident prediction for an earmarked clash this summer.

Headlining UFC 288 last night in Newark, New Jersey, Sterling became the first bantamweight champion in promotional antiquity to secure three consecutive successful title defenses, besting the returning former duel-weight champion, Henry Cejudo in a close, hard-fought split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47) triumph at the Prudential Center.

Meeting with Montana native, O’Malley in the Octagon following his win over Cejudo, Sterling welcomed a title fight against the Dana White’s Contender Series alum this summer, however, shot down the idea of a UFC 292 clash on August 19. in a planned Boston, Massachusetts event.

“That is news to me, man – I dont’t wanna go to Boston,” Aljamain Sterling said. “Dana (White), I’ve been trying to fight at the T-Mobile [Arena] for God know’s how long. Can we just fight in [Las] Vegas?”

“I wanna fight in Vegas where it’s nice and hot, go to a pool party,” Aljamain Sterling explained. “Boston’s cool, but, you know, I wanna go back to the West Coast. And he’s (Sean O’Malley) gonna be a [fan] favorite – he’s gonna be a favorite over there. I know there’s a big Irish crowd over there. So, whatever, it is what it is.”

Aljamain Sterling predicts one-sided victory over Sean O’Malley this summer

Providing a prediction for what could prove to be a blockbuster title offing, Sterling expects to force the issue against O’Malley inside just one round.

“My thoughts on Sean O’Malley; that motherf*cker is frail,” Aljamain Sterling told assembled media after UFC 288. “Frail. You think if I can take down a short, stocky guy like Henry (Cejudo) who’s actually a gold medalist (in the Olympics) and actually has good takedown defense – what I am going to do to Sean O’Malley, like?” 

“… I guarantee you, we step in there – I think I fold that man in half in one round,” Aljamain Sterling continued. “It’s just gonna look – same thing I did to (Cory) Sandhagen. Go out there and pressure forward, he’s gonna use his footwork, I’m gonna cut off the cage like I was just talking about. Eventually, he’s gonna be on his backfoot, let him throw a stupid kick that I’m gonna catch, I’m gonna bodylock him. And I’m gonna fold him in half like a lawn chair, and that’s gonna be the fight.” 

Paddy Pimblett doubtful he’ll make 2023 UFC return after ankle injury: ‘It was a lot worse than we thought’

Paddy PimblettUK phenom Paddy Pimblett has recently had his hopes dashed when it comes to making a 2023 return to the UFC octagon after the ankle injury he suffered at UFC 282 against Jared Gordon. While all hope is not lost, the UK star admits he is very doubtful it may happen and has said that […]

Paddy Pimblett

UK phenom Paddy Pimblett has recently had his hopes dashed when it comes to making a 2023 return to the UFC octagon after the ankle injury he suffered at UFC 282 against Jared Gordon.

While all hope is not lost, the UK star admits he is very doubtful it may happen and has said that the actual extent of the damage is a lot worse than doctors and Pimblett himself believed it to be.

Standing at 20-3 overall and 4-0 in the UFC octagon, Pimblett has been hailed as the potential “next Conor McGregor. He has the charisma, the unique look, and the win streak behind him. However, at UFC 282, a controversial decision victory over Gordon made many doubt his skills. Speculation began about how poorly he’d fair amongst the lightweight elite, and sadly the ankle injury Pimblett suffered at UFC 282 has not allowed him to redeem himself or confirm those suspicions as of yet.

Paddy Pimblett provides an update on his ankle injury and possible UFC return

Speaking to Sky Sports, ‘The Baddy’ spilled the beans on the status of his injury, and the news was not very positive at all. In fact, Pimblett isn’t even sure when he will return, just that things are indeed a lot worse than everybody had expected.

“I’m about to get surgery after my last fight,” Paddy Pimblett told Sky Sports. “I hurt my foot in the first round, in like the first minute or two, threw a kick, hurt it. I felt it, but obviously, we crack on, we get through the fight.”

“At the end of the fight, I can remember going back to the medical room just saying my foot is sore. Couldn’t get it looked at properly until I got home. Then, when the actual swelling went down – I didn’t know when to get surgery – it was a lot worse than we thought. I had to get inner and outer ligament surgery – well, reconstruction. So it’s big.”

Already on crutches for six weeks at the time of the interview, Paddy Pimblett went on to say he could need another six weeks on them before he could even hope to train and get back to his regular fighting self.

“I’ll be lucky to fight this year,” he admitted.

Paddy Pimblett scoffs at critics of UFC 282 win over Jared Gordon, stands by result: “I still think I won’

Paddy Pimblett UFC 282 UFCPolarizing UFC lightweight contender, Paddy Pimblett is sticking to the belief that he landed a decision win over Jared Gordon, albeit close – knocking back criticizm he received from color commentator, Joe Rogan, who claimed the Queens native should have emerged victorious at UFC 282.  Co-headlining UFC 281 in December of last year, Pimblett, a […]

Paddy Pimblett UFC 282 UFC

Polarizing UFC lightweight contender, Paddy Pimblett is sticking to the belief that he landed a decision win over Jared Gordon, albeit close – knocking back criticizm he received from color commentator, Joe Rogan, who claimed the Queens native should have emerged victorious at UFC 282. 

Co-headlining UFC 281 in December of last year, Pimblett, a former Cage Warriors featherweight champion, lodged his fourth consecutive victory under the UFC banner – defeating Gordon in a debated and controversial decision victory.

In the immediate aftermath of his victory, Huyton native, Pimblett insisted that he had done enough to prevent his first promotional loss, however, the likes of UFC color commentator, Rogan, and a host of other fighters and commenters in the community voiced their displeasure with the result. 

Paddy Pimblett stands by controversial decision win over Jared Gordon

Undergoing ankle surgery following his win over Gordon – which has prevented a third London outing for Pimblett next month at UFC 286, the Next Generation MMA stalwart offered to rematch Gordon later this year, insisting he won the December clash regardless. 

“I still think I won,” Paddy Pimbeltt told MMA Junkie. “I won the first two rounds. The first round was closer than I thought on the night. I’ve watched it back. On the night, I thought he (Jared Gordon) only hit me with about two left hooks. I watched it back and he hit me with about six, seven. But yeah, I watched it back and I thought I won the first two rounds. I thought he won the third by just pushing me against the wall, but I think he got about two significant strikes that round all together.”

“I ended up getting him down,” Paddy Pimblett explained. “So, it’s however you scored the first round. But I scored it two rounds to me. If everyone wants to see it again, I don’t mind beating him at the end of the year, lad. Hopefully, he beats Bobby Green, then if he wants to fight toward the back end of the year, I’m game.”

Taking umbrage with calls of a close nature against Gordon, Pimblett admitted that he was not as dominant in the victory as he initially believed.

“I’ve seen people giving me stick for saying I won the fight after it, but what do you want me to do?” Paddy Pimblett asked. “Say, ‘Oh, I think I lost it.’ I do think I won. As I said, I’ve watched the fight back and I don’t think it was as dominant as I thought it was straight after it.”

“I felt brilliant going into that last fight,” Paddy Pimblett continued. “My fight camp was amazin. Never had any injuries or nothing like that going into it. But then when I was in there it just didn’t click. I just didn’t feel good. I felt like sh*t. … That’s probably my worst performance of them all. I was just glad that I went three fives (five minute rounds).”

Bryce Mitchell sheds light on post-fight retirement comments at UFC 282: “I was really hard on myself.”

Bryce Mitchell, Ilia Topuria, UFC 282Bryce Mitchell has retracted his recent plans to retire immediately following his UFC 282 loss.  Mitchell contemplated retirement after his first professional loss to Ilia Topuria in December. After the fight, Mitchell felt “regret” for his performance.  “I just know I could have done better. I’m just in so much pain that I don’t think […]

Bryce Mitchell, Ilia Topuria, UFC 282

Bryce Mitchell has retracted his recent plans to retire immediately following his UFC 282 loss. 

Mitchell contemplated retirement after his first professional loss to Ilia Topuria in December. After the fight, Mitchell felt “regret” for his performance. 

“I just know I could have done better. I’m just in so much pain that I don’t think it’s worth it to keep going,” Mitchell said “I want to stop with MMA and I want to take every little bit of focus that I spend every day on MMA, I want to put it into something else.”

The 28-year-old spoke with ESPN’s Brett Okomoto about the immediate reaction to his submission loss last month. He says that he wasn’t 100%. On social media, he did reveal that he was dealing with the flu heading into the fight.

“When you’re in that state, you’ve got to realize you’re not completely normal, you’re not thinking rationally…I was really mad. I was being really hard on myself.” 

Mitchell also said that if he didn’t think he could’ve done better then he’d retire but that’s not the case. He admitted that he was instantly tired when the fight started and believes that wasn’t his best performance.

“I’ll be honest with you Brett… I swear on my life, if that’s the best I can do I would retire because that sh*t was terrible,” Mitchell said. “But I know I could do better and after thinking about it and knowing how much better I could’ve done. Yeah, I’ve got a different opinion on the fight.” 

Bryce Mitchell Is Looking To Bounce Back From Defeat

Mitchell is confident that he can do better than he did last month and wants to prove that whenever he “runs out of money” in 2023. 

“I am anxious to prove that I can do better. I’m not gonna lie to you. I’d do better right now. If we fought today, I’d do better than I did…whenever we fought.” 

Going into UFC 282, Mitchell was 15-0 during his MMA career. He has 9 submission wins under his belt. In 2019, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt secured the second twister submission in UFC history.

Ji?í Procházka Explains Key To Fighting Glover Teixeira

After going to war with him for almost five full rounds at UFC 275, Ji?í Procházka feels he has a pretty good handle on how one should go about fighting Glover Teixeira. The two light heavyweights were set to meet for a second time in the main event of…

After going to war with him for almost five full rounds at UFC 275, Ji?í Procházka feels he has a pretty good handle on how one should go about fighting Glover Teixeira. The two light heavyweights were set to meet for a second time in the main event of UFC 282 until a shoulder injury…

Continue Reading Ji?í Procházka Explains Key To Fighting Glover Teixeira at MMA News.