Paddy Pimblett / Photo: © Ian Maule / Stringer / UFC / Gettyimages.ru
The Englishman was harshly put in his place in the title fight.
The lineup for the UFC’s first numbered event in 2026 raised big questions, especially the participation of Paddy Pimblett in the main event. The much-hyped Englishman was given written-off veteran Justin Gaethje as his opponent in order to win the title, but the fight did not go according to plan.
“I can’t wait to give him a good finishing touch.”
Initially, UFC 324 was supposed to have another main fight of the evening. The management wanted Ilia Topuria to defend the lightweight title. There was various information regarding his opponent, but the champion refused to fight in the first quarter due to family reasons.
The management couldn’t come up with anything better than organizing a fight for the interim title. The fourth and fifth ranked numbers, Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett, were unexpectedly named as contenders for the belt. Many fans were quite surprised by this choice of promotion, especially the participation of an Englishman in it, whose level of opposition in the UFC left much to be desired.
37-year-old Gaethje has also not been among the main contenders for the title for a long time. The American veteran also lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2020. After that there were defeats to Charles Oliveira and Max Holloway. Before the fight with Pimblett, he had only one win, winning by decision against Rafael Fiziev.
But the first number in the rating, Arman Tsarukyan, was forced to watch the fight from the sidelines. Everything looked like they wanted to lead Paddy, who has a huge army of fans, to the title as smoothly as possible. The confrontation between the Englishman and Topuria could be “sold” well in the summer, when a major tournament is planned to be held in the White House. But Gaethje was clearly against such arrangements.
“I really want to bring the fight to the later rounds and cause this guy a lot of pain, I’m looking forward to it. Honestly, I can’t wait to give him a good beating,” Gaethje said in an interview with ESPN MMA.
Fulfilled the plan 100%
Already in the first round, it became clear that Pimblett, who had not yet lost in the UFC, would have a very difficult time claiming victory. The Englishman tried to fight with an experienced opponent in his arms, but it ended badly for him. Gaethje hit him powerfully in the head, and only a miracle saved Paddy from defeat by knockout in the first round.
In the second five minutes, the advantage was also on Justin’s side. The American controlled the fight both in the standing position and in wrestling on the canvas. The Briton finished this segment with bruises on his face. Gaethje broke his opponent’s nose and cut his eyebrow.
Pimblett’s fans had a timid hope of turning the tide of the fight in the third round, where the Briton looked better, but it was only a short flash. The next two segments were left to Gaethje. Only in the end did Paddy decide on an adventurous attack, which ended in nothing for him.
At the end of the fight, all three judges deservedly awarded victory to Gaethje, who became the interim lightweight champion. For the highly touted Pimblett, this was his first loss in the UFC.
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