UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley knows a thing or two about controversial decision victories. He picked up a hotly debated decision win over Petr Yan recently, and called on that experience to evaluate the latest judging controversy in the UFC: Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett’s recent unanimous decision victory over Jared Gordon. O’Malley discussed his reaction to the fight on his YouTube channel.
“When we all watched it, there were a bunch of people in the room. I don’t think there was one person that scored the fight [for Pimblett] — and that’s coming from me who literally everyone just said that about a couple months ago. If that’s how people felt watching my fight, I’m like, oh…
O’Malley: Paddy the Baddy Either Gets Better Or “Fatter”
Everyone in our building was like, ‘Damn, Paddy lost.’ 100 percent. Then it was a unanimous decision and I’m like, ‘Well, I thought Paddy won at least one round.’ But then they announce that [it was for Pimblett]. What?!”
O’Malley remembered his own fight against Petr Yan, which he won via decision, and advised fans in the aftermath to rewatch the bout. He plans to follow his own advice for the Pimblett fight and watch it again to see how the judges scored the fight.
“I really wish I would have rewatched it because I also told everyone after my fight, ‘Just rewatch it.’ Because I rewatched it and felt I won that. So, maybe I just have to rewatch it and maybe I can see it different, but in the moment watching that fight, I don’t know. Then Paddy was yelling, ‘Dana [White]! 50 G’s!’ Then Dana’s like, ‘Yep, Fight of the Night.’
I bet Paddy takes away from that fight and goes, ‘Okay, I need to f****** dial in. This is the time where I need to dial in, not get fat as f***, and get more skilled.’ Because he has skills. He knows how to perform, he’s not bad. He has a lot of potential, just where is he going to direct his energy? Is he gonna get better or is he gonna get fatter? We’ll see.”
It’s not the first time that O’Malley and Pimblett, both of whom have active social media presences to accompany their fighting careers, have spoken about one another online. While a clash between the two is unlikely, with twenty pounds separating their respective weight classes, O’Malley may have a point regarding Pimblett’s future in the UFC. He will definitely need to improve his game if he plans on ascending to a UFC title.
Do you think The Baddy won or lost the Jared Gordon fight? Let us know in the comments.
