Paddy Pimblett calls Aaron Pico's win over Losene Keita at UFC 333 a 'terrible stoppage'

Pimblett loved the right hand that put Keita down but said the punches on the ground 'weren't really doing nothing' when the referee stepped in.

Paddy Pimblett says Aaron Pico's first-round win over Losene Keita at UFC 333 was a "terrible stoppage, lad", even though he loved the right hand that set it up.

Pimblett was watching the fight in a UFC 333 reaction video on his own YouTube channel, posted on Sunday 25 October. As the referee stepped in, he said: "Oh! Bad stoppage though. Terrible stoppage, lad. Terrible stoppage though, lad. I thought that was a bad stoppage, that."

He said the damage was done standing up, not on the canvas: "Like, the right hand he hit him with before, it was lovely, about made him sit down. Like, the shots weren't really doing nothing on the floor." He added: "Yeah, look, right on the chin, makes him do the stanky leg," before settling on: "I don't reckon that's a good stoppage, really."

Pimblett said it was a fight he was looking forward to on the card, and picked Pico once he took Keita down early: "He's just got a takedown real fast there, like, so I'll go Pico." Of the fight overall, he said: "It was good as long as it lasted."

Pico stopped Keita with punches at 1:14 of the first round in Abu Dhabi on Saturday 24 October to move to 15-5. Pico called for a rematch with Manchester's Lerone Murphy after the win. In the same video, Pimblett said Movsar Evloev quit against Alexander Volkanovski.

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