Sean O’Malley beat Petr Yan at UFC 280 by a split decision. Many felt that the victory was debatable. But it was clear that O’Malley wasn’t outclassed by Yan in their matchup. Despite the fact that it was close, there is a solid case for him to be awarded the victory.
On the other hand, Paddy Pimblett defeated Jared Gordon at UFC 282 by unanimous decision. The majority of spectators and analysts thought Gordon should have won considering he landed more.
Due to their immense popularity, plenty of fans make comparisons between the two fan favorites. But O’Malley contests this point, accurately pointing out that Petr Yan is a former champion while Jared Gordon isn’t even ranked.
“All right, now we get to the fight that everyone’s f**king talking about. Paddy Pimblett vs Jared Gordon when we all watched it. There was a bunch of people in the room. I don’t think there was one person that scored the fight. And it’s coming from me who literally everyone literally just said that about a couple of months ago.”
“If that’s how people felt watching my fight, I’m like, Oh.” O’Malley explained making a cringing face.
He said,
“Mine, I fought Petr Yan. I fought the number-one killer. Jared Gordon is good, and he proved that he’s good, but it’s not even in the same conversation,” O’Malley told his coach on the Bromalley podcast.
“I’m curious if you rewatch back Paddy vs Gordon if you see it the same way.”
In both of these cases, UFC commentator Joe Rogan initially thought the judges got it wrong. Rogan’s first reaction to O’Malley vs Yan was:
Rogan stated on JRE,
“O’Malley was certainly in it against Petr Yan. He was a former champion, one of the best in the division by far, the number one contender. It was a very close fight.”
“He definitely hurt Petr in multiple occasions. Caught him with that big knee, rocked him. The question is, how much is the takedown worth? How much is control worth?”
“Takedowns without damage, what is that value? I’m not denying Petr Yan won, cause I did think he won the end of it. But takedowns without damage vs. standup with damage. ‘Sugar’ landed more strikes standing and had big moments.”
“Yan had some big moments too. One big left hand that rocked him. The question is like, how valuable are those takedowns and how valuable is that top game in that control?”
Meanwhile Rogan was caught in a viral video live reacting to Pimblett’s win:
Gordon since revealed:
“I’m like alright I did enough. [Joe] Rogan was like, yeah, you got this, you got this… I was like Joe is saying it, I guess I won.”