Paddy Pimblett’s controversial decision victory over Jared Gordon at UFC 282 has had no shortage of its critics, the latest coming from his old pal, Ariel Helwani.
Only last week, Ariel & Paddy got into a public back-and-forth after “The Baddy” launched a scathing attack on Ariel on his podcast ‘Chatting Pony’ with Dana White, accusing him of “using fighters to make money”. Helwani responded swiftly on ‘The MMA Hour’ and has since made no secret of his feelings on the judges decision
Ariel Helwani Reacts to Paddy Pimblett’s UFC 282 Win
“Not even messing around now: Was that one of the worst decisions ever? I think you can make a case. I’m blown away that not a single judge had it for Gordon”.
“Thought it was 29-28 at worst for Jared Gordon,” Helwani stated. “Thought he won the first and third. Could make a case for second, too. Pretty incredible how not a single judge had it for him? How’s that possible?”.
The fact that zero judges did score the fight for Gordon caused a social media frenzy, with many feeling Gordon convincingly shut Paddy out. Pimblett declaring that “the fight wasn’t close” in his post-fight interview consequently skyrocketed it.
“Also, incredible that Doug Crosby, 24 hours after one of the worst scorecards ever, scores the first two against Jared Gordon. Tremendous stuff.” Ariel added.
Doug Crosby Controversy
This is where things really begin to get interesting. Ariel would go on to question judge Doug Crosby, who in addition to Saturday’s controversial decision was in the spotlight for a similar turn of events just less than 24 hours prior at Bellator 289.
Crosby was one of three judges for the Raufeon Stots vs Danny Sabatello main event and came under heavy fire for scoring the fight 50-45 to Sabatello, comparatively to the other two judges’ 48-47 scorecards in favour of Stots. Not only is such a wide margin between judges’ scorecards particularly odd, but this also makes Crosby the first judge in recently recorded MMA history to score a 50-45 in favour of the loser.
In addition to raising concerns over why he was judging two major fights on different shows across the country within 24 hours, Ariel certainly didn’t shy away from putting the heat on Crosby. “Crosby has been delivering horrendous scorecards for years. Well over a decade.”
“As I’ve said for years, these judges should at the very least have to explain to the public why they make these calls. Get a pool reporter answering some questions, put out a statement… something. But again, nothing happens. Just more black eyes for the sport.” Helwani stated.
In light of yet another weekend in the world of MMA littered with scorecard controversies, it’s clear that a bigger conversation is in dire need of happening to bridge the disconnect that many fighters & fans feel when it comes to judges within the sport. Ultimately, it doesn’t feel likely anytime soon.
What do you think can be done to prevent controversial decisions from happening so frequently in MMA?
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images and Embed from Getty Images
