Paddy Pimblett on Charles Oliveira’s loss to Islam Makhachev: ‘I would’ve put up a better fight’

Paddy Pimblett might be the new kid on the block, but even he feels he would have put up a better fight than Charles…

By: Lewis McKeever | 10 months ago
Paddy Pimblett on Charles Oliveira’s loss to Islam Makhachev: ‘I would’ve put up a better fight’
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Paddy Pimblett might be the new kid on the block, but even he feels he would have put up a better fight than Charles Oliveira did against Islam Makhachev at UFC 280.

Oliveira, the former UFC lightweight champion, was submitted by Makhachev in the second round of their lightweight title fight at UFC 280, losing for the first time since 2018 and suffering the first championship defeat of his career.

Pimblett regretted picking Oliveira to win due to the online backlash he received after the fight. The Liverpudlian feels he could’ve performed better than ‘Do Bronx’ on fight night and perhaps beaten Makhachev himself.

“I got so much stick for picking Charles against Islam, which is crazy because a lot of people picked Charles but still on social media posts and stuff oh you picked Charles. Yeah, cause Charles had fought the better people and I thought Charles was going to win,” Pimblett said ahead of his upcoming fight with Jared Gordon at UFC 282 (h/t BJPenn.com). “Can’t I have a prediction anymore? People saying you haven’t given props to Islam, I have. He looked unbelievable that night, he absolutely dominated Charles. I would’ve put up a better fight that night than Charles did, to be honest.”

Oliveira was offered a rematch with Makhachev, but reportedly turned it down due to emotional stress, per his team. The Brazilian is expected to return to competition next year against a TBA opponent.

Paddy, meanwhile, returns to the Octagon this Saturday at UFC 282, where he takes on Kill Cliff FC’s Jared Gordon in the co-main event. The pay-per-view, which features Jan Blachowicz vs. Magomed Ankalaev as the main event, takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.



Official UFC 282 Fight Poster: Blachowicz vs Ankalaev

LIVE! STREAM UFC 282 ON ESPN+ HERE!

BLOCKBUSTER TITLE-FIGHT SHOWDOWN! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV, on Sat. DEC. 10, 2022, with a must-see thriller that will see perennial fan favorite, No. 3 ranked Jan Blachowicz (29-9), battle No. 4 division ranked contender, Magomed Ankalaev (18-1), for the UFC Vacant Light Heavyweight Championship.

Meanwhile, in UFC 282’s pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event, we get the massively popular ‘Paddy the Baddy’ UFC Lightweight Liverpool sensation (19-3) vs American Jared ‘Flash’ Gordon (19-5) in their first Co-Main bouts. These bouts will be preceded by an exciting Middleweight barnburner between Darrin Till and Dricus Du Plessis, in a must-see barnburner.

Don’t miss a single second of EPIC face-punching action!

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Lewis McKeever
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