Dana White Blasts Jared Gordon’s ‘Horrible Game Plan’ Against Paddy Pimblett

Though most observers felt differently, neither Dana White nor Paddy Pimblett thought Jared Gordon was robbed at UFC 282.

Pimblett remained unbeaten in the Octagon on Saturday night, taking a contentious unanimous verdict over Gordon in the evening’s co-main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with judges Douglas Crosby, Chris Lee and Ron McCarthy all submitting 29-28 tallies for the former Cage Warriors champion. The general consensus in the MMA community after the fact was that Gordon was the victim of some bad scorecards.

Not so, says the UFC president.

“Gordon had a horrible game plan going into that third round,” White said at the UFC 282 post-fight press conference. “You think you won the first two rounds with the judges? How do you know that? Why go in there and throw away the third round and not go in and fight your ass off and try to win.

“If you think you know who won what round or whatever, you’re crazy. I’ve been doing this for 23 years. I have no f---ing idea what those guys are going to do or what they’re going to say.”

Gordon took the fight to Pimblett from the outset, as he landed multiple left hooks and low kicks while controlling the action in the clinch. The action slowed in the third period, when Gordon spent much of the frame pushing Pimblett against the fence to rack up nearly four minutes of control time.

White wouldn’t reveal who he felt won the lightweight fight. Instead, he continued to criticize Gordon’s approach while also blaming referee Herb Dean for not separating the combatants in Round 3.

“He felt that he had the first two rounds and he went in and pushed him against the fence and I’ve got to go after the ref, too,” White said. “A big fight, co-main event, third round, crowd’s going crazy, you’re going to let them stand against the fence the entire fight?

“But these are the things that happen. What are you going to do? Horrible game plan by Gordon. The ref let it happen and he threw the fight away.”

Not surprisingly, the outspoken Pimblett, who has become one of the promotion’s more marketable stars in 2022, believed he did more than enough to get the nod. To be fair, he did have his moments, particularly when landing offense at distance. All told, Pimblett held a 63-to-58 edge in significant strikes landed, while Gordon had a 100-to-97 advantage in total strikes.

“I knew I’d won the first two,” Pimblett said. “When I looked at the stats after the fight, I think I won all three. In the cage I thought that he won the third. …But then after looking back at the stats – four significant strikes [landed by Gordon] – control time doesn’t mean jack s—t anymore.”

Paddy “The Baddy” attributed much of the robbery discussion after the fight to his status as a high-profile figure in the UFC.

“I’m bit annoyed after people saying they thought I lost,” Pimblett said during the UFC 282 post-fight show. “I’m pretty annoyed, to be honest. But I’m 4-0 in the UFC – haters going to hate, you’ve got to get on with it.”

On the other side of the coin is Gordon, who while much less celebrated than his opponent, entered UFC 282 having won four of his five previous appearances. It’s pretty clear how the Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu representative felt after the verdict was revealed.

“I was robbed everyone knows it,” Gordon wrote on Twitter. “I can cry about it but I been back from worst and God’s plan is the best plan so I know there’s something big to come from it.”

I was robbed everyone knows it i… I can cry about it but I been back from worst and gods plan is the best plan so I know there’s something big to come from it

— Jared Gordon (@JFlashGordonMMA) December 11, 2022