UFC star Paddy Pimblett could be forced to sit out for the entirety of this year as his ankle injury will likely delay his return.
Pimblett, 28, hasn't fought since he controversially beat Jared Gordon at UFC 282 last December with many fans and fighters labelling the outcome as "one of the worst UFC decisions ever". The Scouser limped his way out of the octagon that night after damaging his ankle in the first round and has since undergone surgery for the injury.
"I hurt my foot in the first round, the first minute or two, threw a kick and hurt it," Pimblett told Sky Sports. "I felt it but cracked on and got through the fight. At the end of the fight I can remember going back to the medical room and saying, 'My foot's sore here'. I couldn't get it looked at properly until I got back home.
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'The Baddy' could be on crutches for a total of three months and admitted his UFC return likely won't take place until next year. "It was a lot worse than they [doctors] thought. I had to get inner and outer ligament surgery, reconstruction. So it's big. I have already been on the crutches for six-and-a-half weeks, it could be another six weeks. I'll be lucky to fight this year."
Despite beating Gordon in their fight, Pimblett has called for a rematch against the American when he returns to the cage. Gordon said the defeat gained him a lot of fans, many of which he claimed to be supporters of Pimblett that have since crossed over to tell him he won their fight.
“His fans are my fans now,” Gordon said. “Every now and then there’s someone who’s like, ‘You’re Paddy’s son’ or something like that but if you look at his page, people send me screenshots of the comments of his page that say, ’30-27 Gordon’ or ‘Gordon’s son.’ I would say 99 per cent of MMA fans thought I won that fight.
"People from Liverpool and London constantly message me, ‘Oh, you beat Paddy, you’ve got to fight him again.’ With that decision, the only thing I really missed out on was the other half of my check. Which sucked, but I’m not like struggling for money, so I think it might’ve been a better thing for me the way things turned out.”
