I always rip long pieces, and it never distorts. I get more distortion when I wash fabrics. My borders and backing are exact everytime. I have been quilting over 25 years. I know when they cut sometimes it is really hard to straighten the fabric when I get it home. If it looks distorted just press it and it is fine. You get a truer straight when it is ripped. I just took a class and mentioned ripping and the instructor also hadn't ripped in years and we all started ripping our large straight pieces and everyone was really surprised and excited and how easy and perfect each strip was. I rip for any long strip 3" and over.
I am attaching a photo of one of my recent quilt tops both the narrow and wide border are ripped.