Sean O’Malley and Paddy Pimblett were involved in arguably the two most controversial decisions of 2022.
This past October at UFC 280, O’Malley vaulted his way to the bantamweight division’s peak with a huge split decision upset over former champion Petr Yan. For their efforts, the pair earned Fight of the Night honors, and “Suga” acknowledged in his post-fight interview that it was his toughest test to date.
The vast majority of the MMA community disagreed with O’Malley as the victor and let him hear it online. After UFC 282 this past weekend, Pimblett has become a similar victim to the timeless robbery claims after a unanimous decision win against Jared Gordon.
“When we all watched it, there were a bunch of people in the room,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “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 …
“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?!”
To compare both decisions as per data from MMA Decisions, 73 percent of 3400-plus total fan votes scored Yan as the winner against O’Malley with 90 percent of 2200-plus favoring Gordon. The high 90 percent comes in closely behind 2021’s most disputed decision of Maycee Barber defeating Miranda Maverick which 92 percent of fan votes scored for Maverick.
Unlike O’Malley in the aftermath of his Yan bout, Pimblett was supremely confident he had his fight won. While “The Baddy” missed out on a desired $50,000 bonus, he remains undefeated in the UFC after four straight wins, extending his overall streak to six.
“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,” O’Malley said. “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.”
TOP STORIES
Rankings. Year of new blood reshapes the top 10
Progression. Matt Brown: If Paddy Pimblett moves up to fight higher-ranked competition ‘he’s going to get f****** molly-whopped’
Divisions. Israel Adesanya’s head coach: Khamzat Chimaev ‘rising star, but he’s done literally nothing at middleweight’
Controversy. Mohegan commission to review Raufeon Stots vs. Danny Sabatello with judges, sanctions possible
Circus. Scott Coker happy to let Dillon Danis book boxing match against KSI: ‘You’re going to have your hands full, young man’
Matchmaking. Chris Curtis targets ‘f***** unit’ Dricus du Plessis after unsatisfying UFC 282 win
Prediction. Dricus Du Plessis doesn’t expect Alex Pereira to stay champ for long: ‘I think Robert Whittaker beats him’
Title. Jamahal Hill reacts to UFC 283 title shot: ‘The guns are on deck’ with Glover Teixeira
VIDEO STEW
2023 UFC hype.
Eric Nicksick connected.
Sergei Pavlovich’s pre-UFC knockouts.
LISTEN UP
Fighter vs. Writer. MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin chats with Matt Brown.
Heck of a Morning. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck discusses if Glover Teixeira was UFC 282’s biggest winner.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
Clouds over California.
California had some rain the other day. pic.twitter.com/UQjzYtVWML
— Josh Thomson (@THEREALPUNK) December 13, 2022
Black Panther.
Such an amazing time getting to see and understand how the art of filmmaking takes place with these amazing performers #blackpanther #wakandaforever pic.twitter.com/kq1YMof5Ly
— KAMARU USMAN (@USMAN84kg) December 13, 2022
Team Flatnose.
#ufc4 楽しすぎwww pic.twitter.com/Kym1NoRrLC
— 平本蓮 REN HIRAMOTO(24) (@REN_MMA) December 13, 2022
Who’s next?
Still hungry for more!! Who do y’all think i should fight next in the stacked featherweight division ⬇️⬇️ (without tagging them) pic.twitter.com/ED9Bloivt9
— Billy Quarantillo (@BillyQMMA) December 13, 2022
Solid.
Chris Curtis’s defense against Joaquin Buckley pic.twitter.com/9trWbnJmwb
— Miguel Class (@MigClass) December 13, 2022
Indeed.
Life is crazy, indeed
— Charles ‘DoBronxs’ Oliveira (@CharlesDoBronxs) December 13, 2022
The raging one has spoken.
Fight fixing or absolute incompetence. Either way gtfo Douglas https://t.co/ljUAszZUIZ
— Al Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) December 14, 2022
Signing.
What’s up Vegas pic.twitter.com/ramWJFxHzn
— Terrance ‘T Wrecks’ McKinney (@twrecks155) December 14, 2022
Jiri would like a word.
USADA’s most wanted. @BorrachinhaMMA pic.twitter.com/Rf73FYFoKQ
— Dalton Rosta (@DaltonRosta) December 14, 2022
That’s a great shirt.
El Lobo.
Class.
With all the controversy with our Fight Id love to run it back with you in London @theufcbaddy I have no ill will towards you, as a matter of fact I really like you @stoolpresidente maybe we can all work together and between Paddy and I there’s no way we can’t help others and https://t.co/vdWKiBZuR4
— Jared Gordon (@JFlashGordonMMA) December 13, 2022
we can beat each other up again in the mean time for everyone’s entertainment! The people want it, and we can settle this on your turf⚡️ @graham_boylan @aliabdelaziz
— Jared Gordon (@JFlashGordonMMA) December 13, 2022
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Javid Basharat (13-0) vs. Mateus Mendonca (9-0); UFC Vegas 67, Jan. 14
Joel Álvarez (19-3) vs. Zubaira Tukhugov (20-5-1); UFC 284, Feb. 11
FINAL THOUGHTS
I want to briefly highlight Dana’s comments about Gordon from the post-fight presser. He unintentionally made a perfect case for why open scoring should be utilized. If only someone mentioned that to him afterward.
Thanks for reading!
EXIT POLL
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Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/12/14/23506956/morning-report-sean-omalley-shocked-by-pimblett-vs-gordon-decision-maybe-i-just-have-to-rewatch-ufc?rand=96749
