by Few decisions in MMA sparked more controversy than Paddy Pimblett’s defeat of Jared Gordon last Saturday, December 10, at UFC 282. But while Doug Crosby, who had long regarded it oddly, had drawn the wrath of fans and experts alike for his decision to award Liverpool’s rising star with victory, there were two others who shared the responsibility of making that decision.
One of these men was Ron McCarthy, son of renowned MMA referee, judge, and on-duty trainer ‘Big’ John McCarthy. Like Crosby and his longtime referee Chris Lee, Ron McCarthy gave Paddy Pimblett a 29-28 scorecard. In a recent episode of the ‘Weighing In’ podcast, Big John made no exceptions for family bonds as he popped his son’s card.
“There is no way Paddy Pimblett is going to win this fight,” John McCarthy said of the UFC 282 main result (Transcript via MMA Mania). “My son was one of the jurors and he asked me and I said, ‘You got it wrong. I thought Jared Gordon won 29-28.’”
The current Bellator broadcast team member went on to explain how he thought the fight should be scored based on current evaluation criteria – he gave the first and third rounds to Gordon. McCarthy also noted that her son and other jurors may have been fascinated by Pimblett’s every successful moment.
“In the first round, Jared Gordon hit Paddy Pimblett like a magnet with a left hook. It hit him repeatedly and stunned him. You can see,” he continued. “Now, Paddy had everything, but that can happen when you’re a sitting judge. You make the crowd respond every time Paddy does something. Because honestly, Paddy didn’t punch as much as Jared Gordon. He didn’t land as many times as Jared Gordon and his shots weren’t that good.
“But when you hear the crowd reaction and that’s what you hear, there are times when you can’t see that angle but hear the crowd’s reaction, and that’s an influencer. And I think they were impressed with what the crowd was interested in.
“Jared Gordon won the first round, he won the third round, I’m giving the second round to Paddy Pimblett,” McCarthy said. “But if you go back and watch that fight, that first round, a lot of people said it wasn’t that close, it was really close. I’m not one to smash the other, but it’s pretty clear that Jared Gordon had to win that round.”
‘The Baddy’, for his part, loudly defended the judge’s decision in his fight and seems to think there should be little discussion about the points awarded.
“Everybody has an opinion, lad,” Pimblett told the media gathered at the post-fight press conference. “Opinions are scum, you know what I mean? Everyone has one. I know I won that fight. as simple as that. I’m interested in facts, lad. And I won a unanimous decision. It’s not even like a split decision. Look at your face and look at mine!? Fights are now scored based on damage. I did much more damage. the end.”
Meanwhile, the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletics is about Crosby’s role in another recent fight in which Sabatello gave Danny Sabatello a 50-45 opposition scorecard in the final split decision loss to Rafeon Stots in Bellator 289. opened an investigation. No news yet. If the Nevada Athletic Commission plans to review any of the ratings for UFC 282.
