Major Takeaways From UFC 182: Fantastic Night Of Finishes Marred By Questionable Scoring

With its first ten bouts ending by stoppage, last weekend's UFC 282 card in Las Vegas, Nevada was primed to be one of the year's best offerings from the world's biggest mixed martial arts (MMA) organization.

That was, of course, until the last two bouts of the night.

Snapping the streak of fantastic finishes was the night's co-main event between fast-rising English sensation Paddy "The Baddy" Pimblett and surging American Jared "Flash" Gordon.

Pimblett and Gordon battled for three rounds, and when the final buzzer went off, it looked like the latter had derailed the former's hype train.

To Gordon, and pretty much the whole MMA world's surprise, it was Pimblett who earned the unanimous decision nod on the judges' scorecards.

Then in the main event which was supposed to crown a new UFC light heavyweight champion, former titleholder Jan Blachowicz of Poland and rising Russian star Magomed Ankalaev battled for five rounds, only to have the fight end by way of the ultra-rare split draw and keep the UFC's 205-pound title without a rightful holder.

There's so much to discuss in the aftermath of the UFC's final premium live event offering of 2022, but for now, here are the International Business Times' important takeaways from UFC 282.

UFC Sees Paddy Pimblett As Conor McGregor's Successor

With Pimblett, the UFC has in its hands a fast-rising European star who has the perfect mix of skill and talent inside the Octagon courtesy of his infectious charisma outside of it.

Pimblett has proven that he can fight and he can talk on the mic, and fans all over the world are on his bandwagon.

It sounds familiar, right? That's because this is exactly what Conor McGregor was before he transformed into the sport's most popular athlete ever.

Nowadays, "The Notorious" isn't exactly itching to get back into the Octagon unless it's for a big payday or a world title bout.

With that being said, the UFC would definitely love to catch lighting in a bottle twice and make "Paddy the Baddy" the promotion's next transcendent superstar.

To do that, it would be in their best interest to make sure that Paddy keeps on winning until he finally gets a world title shot.

Last Saturday, December 10, many believed that the "Pimblett Express" should have been derailed, but the judges saw things differently.

Unfortunately, it came at the expense of a quality competitor like Gordon.

One can argue that Gordon took his foot off the gas in the third round, but it's hard to believe that all the judges saw the fight as a clear-cut win for Pimblett.

Fortunately for the UFC, the organization can keep pushing Pimblett to the moon.

Darren Till's Career Could Be On Last Legs

There was a time when Darren Till was considered to be a future world champion in the UFC.

The native of Liverpool, England was on a tear when he first came into the UFC, and he further solidified his status with a star-making TKO over Donald Cerrone.

Unfortunately for Till, that would be his last big win in the UFC.

Till won a questionable decision against Stephen Thompson in his next bout, but he has since lost five of his last six fights, including three straight losses and four stoppage defeats—with his submission loss to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 282 being his most recent.

The Darren Till of 2022 is far from the version that pundits saw as a future titleholder back in 2017.

Because of the drastic decline, it sends the notion that Till is done in the sport.

To be fair to "The Gorilla," Till's opponents have all been contenders, with the exception of du Plessis, so maybe he isn't completely done.

Maybe the right matchup could get him back on track.

Light Heavyweight Division Embroiled In Turmoil

When former light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka vacated the title, the UFC scrambled to put together a world title bout to crown a new champion.

The company shelved Glover Teixeira, the man who was supposed to fight Prochazka for the title because he didn't want to face Magomed Ankalaev on short notice, so the UFC ended up booking Ankalaev vs. Jan Blachowicz.

Neither man left UFC 282 with the belt.

So what does the UFC do? The promotion book Teixeira against Jamahal Hill in Brazil this coming January.

What happens to Blachowicz and Ankalaev now? Who is next in line if either Teixeira or Hill wins next month?

Hopefully, the light heavyweight title picture gets sorted out after January.