Paddy Pimblett played up to the crowd after staring off with Jared Gordon for the final time ahead of their UFC 282 tonight.
'The Baddy' looks to extend his unbeaten run in the promotion to four fights when he faces Gordon at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The fight marks Pimblett's pay-per-view debut having previously competed at Fight Night events, with the cancellation of Jiri Prochazka vs Glover Teixeira bumping his fight up to the co-main spot.
Pimblett received a huge cheer from the crowd as he walked out on stage at the MGM Grand Garden Arena to lock eyes with Gordon. The pair shook hands and had a friendly face-off, with Pimblett throwing his arms up in the air and pumping his fist as the fans in attendance chanted his name. Gordon was booed by the fans in his home country, but he didn't seem bothered by the reception.
Pimblett has been on good terms with Gordon throughout fight week unlike his past two opponents Jordan Leavitt and Kazula Vargas, both of which he submitted in the English capital. Despite their respect for each other, they disputed a past training session between them as Pimblett claimed he submitted Gordon twice whilst the American insists they never trained with each other.
The fight with Gordon is another step up in competition for the Scouser but one that he is unfazed by, stating: "It's just another fight, every fight is going to be the biggest fight of my career so I just take everything in my stride, this is business as usual. I always saw this in my future and knew what was coming, I said I was going to be the biggest star in the sport and none of it takes me by surprise."
Gordon has only lost one of his past five fights as he was submitted by Grant Dawson in April, with Pimblett labelling his rival’s former opponent as “dog***”. Gordon, who is the betting underdog ahead of the fight, is relishing the chance to become the first man to beat ‘The Baddy’ in the UFC.
"I'm super excited, the eyes are on us and I think we are the true main event right now. I'm not the most charismatic person at times but Paddy sure is, I think it's going to be a great fight. It's an opportunity that I have to seize just like everything else during my career and that's what I'm going to do," he said.
