After his fight with Jared Gordon in 2022, fan sentiment for Paddy Pimblett took a nosedive.
Despite high expectations for "The Baddy" to secure another impressive win, fans were left feeling bittersweet due to the controversial unanimous decision that the Liverpudlian ultimately won.
23 of 24 media members scored the bout in favor of Gordon, and the drama was only exacerbated by Pimblett doubling down on his contentious victory:
"[I] had a boxing match with him [Gordon] and I still won, because you're s***," Pimblett ranted on his YouTube channel. "...You're f****** dog s***. At my worst, you couldn't beat me at my best. Injured, everything going wrong, and you couldn't beat me on my worst day, and I beat you on your best because you're a little bum."
This weekend, Paddy Pimblett makes his much-anticipated return at UFC 296 after a over a year of inactivity. As he gears up for his upcoming bout against UFC veteran Tony Ferguson, "The Baddy" is determined to dismiss any doubt coming his way.
"As they say, we're only judged on our last fight," Pimblett told TNT Sports. "You get judged on your last performance and I can understand that.
"But when you can't right it... when I couldn't right the wrong, I couldn't get in there and show the improvements that I had made. Because obviously in that fight I got injured two minutes into it.
"...Everyone judges me on what I said in the cage after it," Pimblett tittered. "...I'd just been punched in the head quite a bit."
Pimblett understands why fans would think Gordon won the bout:
"I don't really register punches that hit me," Pimblett explained. "...I just felt like I'd clearly won them first two rounds, and then he held me against the cage in the third.
But obviously when I watched it back I was like 'Yeah, I understand why people think this was a close fight,' because it could have went either way.
"But people calling it a robbery, they're just jumping on the hate bandwagon."
A win at UFC 296 presents Pimblett with a chance to reshape the fan narrative surrounding him. Additionally, he'll be aiming to make a breakthrough into the lightweight rankings and solidify his status as a formidable contender.
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