"What was them judges watching" - Paddy Pimblett questions the scoring of Petr Yan vs. Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267
Paddy Pimblett wasn't happy with the judges who scored the Petr Yan vs. Cory Sandhagen interim bantamweight championship fight at UFC 267.
Yan defeated Sandhagen via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) inside Abu Dhabi's Etihad Arena on Saturday. In doing so, the Russian left the venue with the interim gold. The judges gave 'No Mercy' four 10-9 rounds, while 'The Sandman' won only the first round according to the scorecards.
However, UFC lightweight newcomer Paddy Pimblett believes Sandhagen clearly did enough to win the first two rounds against Yan. Taking to Twitter, 'The Baddy' wrote:
"4-1?! What was them judges watching thought Cory won the first 2 there me what yous think ppl? #UFC267"
4-1?! What was them judges watching thought Cory won the first 2 there me what yous think ppl? #UFC267
'The Baddy' is 17-3 in his professional MMA career so far. In his UFC debut last month, he fought Luigi Vendramini at UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Till. After a rocky start, Pimblett secured the first-round knockout he'd confidently predicted pre-fight.
The Liverpudlian is a former Cage Warriors featherweight champion. He'll be hoping to replicate that title success at 155 pounds in the UFC
Petr Yan will likely square off against UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling in a unification bout next
With his UFC 267 victory over Cory Sandhagen, interim champ Petr Yan will likely now be booked in a unification bout with bantamweight titleholder and bitter rival Aljamain Sterling.
The inevitable clash will be a rematch between the two 135-pound stars. They previously fought at UFC 259 in March this year. Sterling defeated Yan via disqualification due to an illegal knee he received to the head from the Russian whilst he was downed.
The bantamweight champ is already looking ahead to a title unification 🏆 #UFC267
(via @funkmasterMMA) https://t.co/Fy9RreCyIs
'Funk Master' was initially scheduled to defend his title against 'No Mercy' at UFC 267. However, he hadn't fully recovered from neck surgery and was eventually replaced by Sandhagen in the co-main event.
Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan's rematch will likely go down sometime in the first half of 2022.