Gaethje and Pimblett shared the Octagon at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for a historic show. The two headlined UFC’s first event as part of the Paramount+ deal on January 24. Gaethje had a fun slugfest with “The Baddy” en route to a unanimous decision win. “The Highlight” managed to defeat Pimblett throughout the fight.
While some fans were happy to see the action, other retired veterans have expressed disappointment from a skills perspective. Chandler was asked for his opinion during an interview with MMAfightingand he believes the criticism is just noise.
“Yeah, it’s hard, right? Because the sport has to keep evolving and you think it’s going to keep evolving, so that’s why it has to get cleaner, more streamlined and less sloppy, so to speak,” Chandler said. “But at the end of the day, it’s still a street fight, you know? There are very few rules. He throws something, I throw something. He throws something while I throw something, you get hit with something.”
“I look at it like I would never respect two guys going out there and putting it on the line. Was there a little [bit of] sloppy moments? Yes, of course it was. But there are little sloppy moments in every aspect of the sport, and of course there are going to be people who have never done it who talk about it, but then guys who have, who have done it, who have somewhat of a tendency to shit on every single fight or every single thing, just to name no names.
Gaethje became a two-time interim UFC Lightweight Champion thanks to his performance against Pimblett. He is now in line to face Ilia Topuria in an undisputed title fight sometime this year. Topuria has been on a break, but it looks like he’s back in the gym after taking care of personal matters.
Did you enjoy Justin Gaethje’s victory over Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324? Sound off in the comments section below.
#Michael #Chandler #shuts #critics #UFC #fight #Justin #Gaethje #Paddy #Pimblett