After five hard fought rounds at Cage Warriors Unplugged, Paddy Pimblett kept his belt.
The 21-year-old hot prospect earned a unanimous decision victory (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) over former UFC fighter Julian Erosa at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.
Judges Ben Cartlidge and David Lethaby gave the first three rounds to the Baddy and the last two to Juicy J, while Andy Sledge gave Pimblett the nod for the first three rounds and the final stanza.
After dropping the opening rounds courtesy of Pimblett having the better of the grappling exchanges, Erosa came back strong as the fight progressed and very nearly finished the fight in the third.
He rocked the champ with a huge flying knee that landed square to the head, but he was unable to land a coup de grace. Pimblett still seemed stunned in the fourth, but Erosa opted to clinch up rather than try to go for the finish on the feet.
When the judges’ decision came in, many fight fans were perplexed as they had thought Erosa had done enough to seal the victory.
https://twitter.com/joeyjones1992/status/797587241619062784
Pimblett should not have won that fight.
— Don2016 (@dgal32) November 13, 2016
Think Erosa will feel a bit hard done by after that. Maybe he could've pushed a bit more for the finish. Pimblett has improving to do still.
— Brian Mc (@BrianMcCormack7) November 13, 2016
https://twitter.com/Official_Maters/status/797589326649507840
Need to watch that fight again tomorrow. But I feel Pimblett will count his blessings. Back to the drawing board. Let's not forget he's 21.
— Jamie Hammond (@TheMMAFiesta) November 12, 2016
There was a worrying development for the victor after the fight. During his post-fight interview, Pimblett looked like he puked up a considerable amount of blood mid-sentence.
Here’s hoping the youngster is alright and there isn’t any serious damage done.
#CWUnplugged even he can't stomach that win…. What a joke. @Izi_Garcia pic.twitter.com/ktjSvdMryD
— Eugene Carrick (@ecarrick85) November 12, 2016
Here's Paddy Pimblett's interview live on BT Sport. Not for the squeamish pic.twitter.com/tvOGr5U00s
— London Brawling (@LondonBrawling) November 12, 2016
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