White Says Pimblett vs Gordon Likely, Managers Say Otherwise

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White recently announced a juicy Lightweight matchup between Paddy Pimblett and Jared Gordon, which he said would likely be going down on March 19, 2022, when the promotion returns to London, England.

“No it hasn’t (been announced),” said White in an interview with Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports. “Jared Gordon is probably going to be his (opponent). Breaking news,” he said before adding that he hopes Pimblett knows who his opponent will be.

Moments later, both Pimblett and Gordon’s managers refuted the claim.

“We haven’t agreed this and still discussing opponents,” wrote Graham Boylan, Pimblett’s manager, on Twitter. A few minutes later, Brian Butler-Au — Gordon’s manager — hopped on his social media account to say they haven’t even heard anything regarding that fight.

To be fair, White didn’t say the fight was signed and sealed and threw in “probably” to be on the safe side. That said, if UFC matchmakers are discussing it, it has a very good possibility of going down.

Pimblett burst onto the UFC scene in Sept. 2021, knocking out Luigi Vendramini in the very first round, giving the former Cage Warriors Featherweight champion his third straight victory (see it here). “The Baddy” — who inked a massive deal with Barstool Sports — was linked to a potential fight against longtime UFC veteran Donald Cerrone for his next showing, but that never came to be.

As for Gordon, he is currently riding a three-fight win streak and was last seen escaping with a razor-thin, split-decision win over Joe Solecki in Oct. 2021. The former Cage Fury Fighting Championship (CFFC) 145-pound king’s last defeat came against current Lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira, in Nov. 2019.

Should this fight eventually get the green light, how do you see it playing out?