LAS VEGAS — Justin Gaethje is UFC interim lightweight champion once again. Gaethje outlasted Paddy Pimblett in an instant classic in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 324 to claim a piece of the title in hopes of eventually getting to unify for full champ Ilia Topuria.
The fight, which headlined the first event of the landmark media rights deal between UFC and Paramount Skydance, saw wild momentum swings as Pimblett would largely control the action in the early rounds, only for Gaethje to land massive power punches that rocked Pimblett.
Despite the damage done by Gaethje’s bombs, Pimblett continued trying to come forward and land his own power shots, often rattling Gaethje while also mixing in heavy leg kicks. This made for surreal moments where Pimblett would seem on the verge of being knocked out only to suddenly snap back to his senses and begin the wild exchanges all over again.
“I don’t think that his gameplan was the greatest, “UFC president and CEO Dana White said. “Obviously he is tough, he is durable, especially against Gaethje. You’re eating those punches against him. It’s one thing to say, ‘I believe in my chin and I’m gonna go toe-to-toe against this guy, but when it starts to not work and you’ve got two rounds left, you might want to try to take him down and submit him.”
Gaethje, who previously held the interim lightweight title as well as the ceremonial BMF title, showed tremendous heart of his own. Pimblett landed more significant strikes overall, according to UFC Stats, edging out Gaethje 156 to 144. Gaethje dealt with Pimblett’s steady stream of offense and brutal leg kicks by returning fire and doing so with more power.
In the end, the official scorecards read 48-47, 49-46 and 49-46, all for Gaethje, who was able to come close to finishing the fight in three of five rounds. That damage was enough to secure Gaethje his second stint as interim champion and hopefully set him up for another crack at becoming undisputed lightweight champion for the first time in his career.
Gaethje has twice come up short in bids to become undisputed champion, losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 254 and Charles Oliveira at UFC 274. It remains to be seen if lightweight champion Ilia Topuria, who is currently sidelined while dealing with a bitter divorce, will defend his title or if he will move up to welterweight in search of a fight with 170-pound champion Islam Makhachev.
“Hey, Scousers do not get knocked out,” Gaethje said after the fight, referencing Pimblett’s iconic line. “That Scouser was not going to get knocked out. … Yeah, my coach was definitely upset with me after the first round. I just love this shit so much, it’s really hard to control myself sometimes. Tough kid, dangerous kid. I had to steal his momentum sometimes.”
Gaethje, who came into Saturday night as an underdog and fought against his coach’s advice, had a simple view of getting the victory and taking home UFC gold once again.
“This is a crazy sport and an amazing f—ing life,” Gaethje said.
Elsewhere on the card, Sean O’Malley returned to the winner’s circle with a decision over Song Yadong in the co-main event. O’Malley, who was coming off consecutive losses to Merab Dvalishvili in title fights, called for a rematch with current titleholder Petr Yan next. O’Malley holds a split decision win over Yan in non-title action in 2022. Plus, heavyweight Waldo Cortes-Acosta picked up a third knockout win in as many months when he finished Derrick Lewis.
