UFC lightweight star Paddy Pimblett gave an honest assessment of his most controversial moment in the Octagon.

Paddy Pimblett faces arguably the toughest test of his fighting career this Saturday at UFC 314 against Michael Chandler. The two UFC fan favorites square off in the UFC 314 co-main event for the chance to enter the lightweight title mix.

Pimblett’s UFC career has been a roller coaster, despite an unblemished six-fight run with the promotion. From his hyped UFC debut in 2021 to his show-stopping finish in his last fight at UFC 304, Pimblett has felt mostly highs during his time in the Octagon.

But one of his earlier UFC wins turned a lot of fans against Pimblett due to a perceived ‘robbery’ at UFC 282.

Paddy Pimblett admits he got ‘lucky’ with controversial win over Jared Gordon

After three stoppage wins to begin his UFC tenure, Pimblett faced the toughest challenge of his career at the time against Jared Gordon at UFC 282. Gordon gave Pimblett fits with his boxing, and limited Pimblett’s grappling advances to win the fight in the eyes of popular opinion.

But the judges’ scorecards went the other way, as Pimblett secured a unanimous decision win (29-28 x 3) over Gordon as fans booed mercilessly as the official result was read by Bruce Buffer. Despite many believing Gordon deserved the win, Pimblett dismissed the narrative in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan as the boobirds flew throughout T-Mobile Arena.

Almost three years since the Gordon fight, Pimblett has pivoted slightly on that stance.

During a recent appearance on the FULL SEND podcast, Pimblett reflected on the most controversial win of his UFC tenure.

“Going into the Jared Gordon fight, one where a lot of people thought I lost, I thought it was a close fight but I thought it was a foregone conclusion I was going to win,” Pimblett said. “I was already thinking about the next opponent and I had to get my head screwed on a bit more, it was a blessing in disguise, because I could’ve lost on that night very easily.

“A lot of journalists, MMA fighters, people think it was a ‘robbery’. I watched it back, it was a close fight and I still think I won…

“But obviously I have a little bit of bias towards myself and it was very close. I was lucky to get the win that night, but that fight changed me. I’ll never overlook an opponent ever again…snapped my ankle in the first round, so I had no mobility for 14 minutes [of the fight].”

Gordon demanded an immediate rematch after UFC 282, but the two sides were booked against different opponents for their next UFC bookings. Gordon is winless in two of his last three fights since the Pimblett loss.

Paddy Pimblett could call out a longtime rival with a win at UFC 314

A win over Chandler at UFC 314 could prompt Pimblett to call to settle his longstanding beef with UFC featherweight titleholder Ilia Topuria. Topuria announced he’s vacating the featherweight title for a full-time transition to lightweight, and as of this writing, he remains without an announced opponent for his next fight.

This opens the door to Pimblett and Topuria potentially fighting later this year if Topuria doesn’t get an immediate title shot. UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and his team are hesitant to grant Topuria a title shot without the featherweight champ beating a top lightweight contender.

As fight talks swirl, Pimblett and Topuria put their beef aside for a cordial moment at UFC London last month. It was a significant pivot from their fighter hotel altercation in 2022.