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Paddy Pimblett explains why he didn’t try to take Justin Gaethje down more in first UFC loss

Originally posted on Bloody Elbow | By Kyle Dimond | Last updated Feb 22, 2026 5:26 PM ET

Paddy Pimblett believes that the eye pokes he took at UFC 324 impacted him in several ways.

Justin Gaethje believes he had the perfect game plan to beat Pimblett despite some being critical of his performance in January.

The American emerged victorious over five rounds in the first title fight of the year to crown an interim lightweight champion.

Gaethje wasn’t surprised that Pimblett didn’t try to take him down more, believing that it was his constant forward pressure that took this option away from his opponent.

‘The Baddy’ has now explained his side of why he believes the majority of the contest played out as a striking match.

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Paddy Pimblett says eye pokes prevented his takedowns due to his depth perception

Paddy Pimblett can take some positives from his first loss inside the Octagon earlier this year.

As a result of standing with Justin Gaethje for the majority of the duration, he had to weather some incredibly tough moments to hear the final bell after 25 minutes.

One thing that he isn’t happy to have gained from this experience is the damage that was done to Pimblett’s eyes.

In a video on his YouTube channel, he described re-watching the fight as “infuriating” due to how big of an impact some of the fouls had on the fight which went unpunished.

Not only did an eye poke that the referee didn’t see lead to him being dropped in the second round and taking a lot of damage, Pimblett says that it made the possibility of shooting for takedowns a lot harder.

“At this point now, where that eye poke has hit me, my depth perception’s off,” he recalled. “They’re shouting for me to get a takedown but sometimes he looks far away, sometimes he looks dead close.”

Many expected the Brit to try and implement his grappling more due to it being his biggest advantage in this matchup, but he was unsuccessful with all five of his takedown attempts.

Pimblett knows that he could’ve done things differently and he doesn’t want to be bitter but he believes the eye pokes, and the lack of a point being taken, had a huge impact on the outcome.

“It’s points like that where I probably should have shot in,” he admitted. “Probably should have shot in right away there but I didn’t. As I was saying, me depth perception’s a bit off, I couldn’t see properly out of my right eye. My left eye had recovered by now [the fourth round].”

Paddy Pimblett knows what he needs to go away and work on after UFC 324

Paddy Pimblett earned a lot of praise for the damage he was able to withstand at UFC 324, stating in his YouTube video that the second round was the most he’s ever been hurt.

The fact that he was able to rally from this and battle the effects of an eye poke to win the third round is something that ‘The Baddy’ is proud of and for good reason.

It’s when watching this round back in particular that he identified what the biggest thing is that he needs to work on in order to take that next step in his career.

“My jab felt boss, lad. It wins me this round I think,” he said. “I’ve been working on my jab for a couple of years now and I know I can still improve it. But, if I need to improve anything, as you know, it’s my defense. My attack’s good, lad. It’s my defense that I need to work on.”

This article first appeared on Bloody Elbow and was syndicated with permission.

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