LAS VEGAS — Justin Gaethje, the timeworn, battle-tested warhorse of UFC’s lightweight division, remembers when he was in Paddy Pimblett’s position. Daring, impulsive, brash. The next big thing. Feeding off the feedback loop of his own self-confidence as it swelled fight by fight.
It’s why he pays no mind when Pimblett, who he’ll fight for an interim lightweight title in Saturday’s main event at UFC 324, says things like, “I know I’m going to hurt him,” or “he won’t be physically the same after this fight,” and “I’m going to put a beat down on him like he’s never received,” as he did during a fight week media blitz in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
Gaethje’s heard it all before. First, from himself around a decade ago when he was earning a reputation as one of the sport’s most reckless, violent, car-crash-inducing matchups in the World Series of Fighting, where he won the company’s inaugural lightweight title and defended it five times before jumping to the UFC.
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And now, from Pimblett, who’s been asserting endless variations of the same from the day this fight was booked. We live in an attention economy, time and awareness being forever finite resources, and braggadocious firebrands like Pimblett are booming industries. As tends to happen when you grow older, Gaethje’s recognizing the cycles.
“When I was his age, I learned there's no reason for me to fuel [my opponent’s] fire. There’s no reason to talk s--- about him and light that fire under his ass,” Gaethje says. “Him saying he's going to retire me — love it. I love that. I'm the underdog. This is my 15th fight in the UFC. I've been an underdog 10 times out of the 14 fights that I’ve had. It's just a testament to the level of competition I've constantly faced.
“So, what he's saying right now does not matter. All that tells me is hopefully he's going to be overconfident. Because the last thing you want to do in this sport is have false confidence. He'd be crazy to not know that I am one of the most dangerous guys he's ever fought.”
Well, Pimblett might just be crazy. When measuring the challenge Gaethje presents, he didn’t only say, “I just don’t see where he can beat me.” He said, “I don’t see how anybody could beat me — never mind Justin Gaethje.”
It’s among the reasons Pimblett’s already one of UFC’s most recognizable stars as he enters his first title fight with the company. It helps that he’s 7-0 since arriving in the promotion from England’s Cage Warriors in 2021. But it really helps that he brought with him a rambunctious charisma that comes across authentically within a sea of fighters straining to get noticed with forced, manufactured personas.
The 31-year-old’s charm is real and it's helped keep fans engaged with his exploits away from the octagon as much as his performances within it, which is the secret sauce to sustained relevancy in a company that values entertainment as much as sport.
Of course, winning fights is non-negotiable and Pimblett’s done his part, knocking off a trio of veterans on his way to this booking: Tony Ferguson in 2023, King Green in ’24, and Michael Chandler in ’25. The latter two earned him performance of the night bonuses, as he sunk Green into a first-round triangle and stopped Chandler from mount during the third of a scheduled five rounds at UFC 314.
Yet it isn’t hard to poke holes in that CV, starting with the fact that only one of those three is currently a ranked UFC lightweight: Chandler, who sits No. 11 despite losing five of his last six. And while all three are recognizable names, that notoriety was built years ago, and the post-prime versions Pimblett encountered — Ferguson was 39 at the time of their fight; Green was 37; Chandler, 38 — were shadows of their former selves.
Pimblett’s fight prior? A controversial decision victory over former featherweight Jared Gordon in a three-round clash that 23 of 24 media members who submitted their scorecards to MMA Decisions prior to the results being read saw Pimblett losing. And 11 of those 23 had it 30-27.
But that’s the matchmaker model for you. The UFC has understood Pimblett’s marketability for some time — “The UFC aren’t stupid,” he says — crafting his schedule to ensure an ascension went as smoothly as possible. Which is how he arrived at a title shot without a victory over anyone in the lightweight’s top-10.
Does Pimblett hear all those ‘but what about’s’ and ‘well, actually’s?’ You know he does. Every last one.
“Everyone's saying [Gaethje’s] going to knock me out now. But in a couple of days, when I win, everyone will be like, 'Oh, he only beat him because 37, he's retired,’” Pimblett says. “People can talk. I don't mind. People can say what they want. They don't see the hard work and the dedication and the sacrifice. People like to talk from behind their phones on social media. And I let them.”
Of course, fighters can play the game, too, which is partially how Gaethje positioned himself for this do-or-die opportunity to reach the doorstep of an undisputed title that’s eluded him throughout a blood-and-guts career. After eking out a win over Rafael Fiziev last March, the 37-year-old was in no rush to re-enter the octagon, floating a message through his management that if his next fight wasn’t for a title he’d likely retire.
And who could blame him at this stage of a hellacious, 31-fight journey? Gaethje’s breakneck, all-action style is such that explosions reverberate throughout his fights, many of them impacting his opponents, but some inevitably inflicting damage on himself. His 14 fight-night bonuses are tied with Anderson Silva for the seventh-most in UFC history, which says one thing about the entertainment value of his fights, and another about the toll he’s withstood to produce them.
It’s hard to imagine a fighter who’s better earned the right to be choosy and ultimately Gaethje’s gambit paid off with the opportunity he’s presented Saturday. Representing a golden, closing lightweight era of fearless, tactical strikers — Dustin Poirier, Eddie Alvarez, Chandler — that cemented 155-pounds as the sport’s premier division, Gaethje can keep his generation’s window ajar for just a bit longer with a hand raised, a second career interim belt wrapped around his waist, and a promise of another meaningful matchup later this year.
“I said if I didn't get the fight I wanted, and felt like deserved, I might retire. But none of that matters now. I'm here. I got what I wanted,” Gaethje says. “If I get the win on Saturday, I will have the interim championship. And that automatically gives you a fight versus the champion, which is Ilia Topuria.”
Of course, Topuria, who’s held UFC’s lightweight belt since June, looms large over all of this. Recently separated from his wife, Georgina, and embroiled in a legal dispute over custody of their child, the Georgia-Spain dual citizen stepped away from competition to address significant personal matters — Georgina’s accused Topuria of abuse; Topuria’s accused unnamed parties of extortion — at play in his life outside the sport.
UFC’s best-case scenario is that Topuria’s hiatus is brief and a return to fight the winner of Saturday’s main event arrives sooner than later. Yet, there’s no telling how long it will take for these issues to resolve, and thus zero certainty as to when Topuria may next be available to defend. And if Topuria’s absence extends into spring and early summer, the UFC will be forced to make a difficult decision.
Would the promotion strip Topuria and elevate the winner of Pimblett vs. Gaethje to champion? Would it ask one of those fighters to defend their interim belt? Would it put the division’s upper echelon on pause and await Topuria’s return?
As one of the biggest international stars in the sport and a considerable celebrity in the emerging Spanish market, Topuria’s most valuable to the UFC with a belt around his waist. It stands to reason the company will be reticent to strip him, as it was with fellow superstar Jon Jones when he went 20 months between heavyweight title defences while emerging talent Tom Aspinall fought for and defended an interim belt.
But Pimblett and Gaethje possess substantial followings themselves, as do Charles Oliveira and Max Holloway, UFC’s No. 2 and 3-ranked lightweights, respectively, who will fight for the symbolic BMF title in March. A matchup between any combination of that grouping for a vacant lightweight belt would do numbers, a perpetually important consideration for the UFC, but particularly in its first year of a new, $7.7-billion broadcast partnership with Paramount+.
And then there’s the most meritocratically deserving lightweight contender of them all — Arman Tsarukyan. He’s been staving off boredom by producing ostentatious social media content and dominating grappling tournaments while serving an undefined promotional punishment for falling out of a title fight against Islam Makhachev at the 11th hour last January and headbutting Dan Hooker at a November weigh-in.
Tsarukan’s only losses in 24 fights since 2015 have come against Makhachev, the consensus pound-for-pound best in the sport, and Mateusz Gamrot in a frenetic, nip-and-tuck five-rounder that 15 of the 22 media members who submitted their scorecards to MMA Decisions prior to the result being read scored for Tsarukyan.
Could an extended Topuria absence force the UFC into giving Tsarukyan the title shot he clearly deserves? Add it to the pile of questions and uncertainty that will cloud UFC’s lightweight picture on Sunday morning regardless of who wins the night prior.
The questions going into the night are simpler. Does Gaethje have enough left for one final push? Is Pimblett as inevitable as he says he is? As ever in fighting, you’re either on your way up or on your way out. It seems Gaethje’s in the uncomfortable position of trying to be both. Yet Pimblett’s not so sure.
“All the old guard, the fighters, are picking Justin. Because they don't like it when the next generation comes in and starts beating the old guards,” Pimblett says. “Everyone underestimates me and overlooks me. People think that they can beat me until they get in the octagon with me. I'm going to win this title. And then I'm going to beat Ilia. Easy.”
