An interim lightweight title bout headlines the first UFC event of the year on Jan. 24 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Forner interim titleholder Justin Gaethje faces No. 5 ranked Paddy Pimblett in the UFC 324 main event with the interim championship on the line.
Champion Ilia Topuria stepped away from the sport to deal with personal problems and the fight promotion opted to create an interim belt in his absence.
Pimblett hasn’t tasted defeat in the UFC, but a win over Gaethje would be the biggest of his career. Pimblett will enter the fight as the betting favorite, but Gaethje plans to teach “The Baddy” a lesson.
“Paddy Pimblett, this guy’s got a ton of momentum, you know, a ton of confidence, and those are two variables that are tough to beat. I’m gonna have to really steal that momentum early and stay in my shell,” Gaethje told the Paramount UFC Crew YouTube channel.
“I know this kid’s going to be trying to kill me and I know he’s going to make mistakes. So, I have to be ready to take advantage of these mistakes and fight a perfect fight at the highest level. It’s who makes mistakes first and I’m going to need to teach him that.”
Related: Injury forces champion out of UFC 324
If Pimblett were to defeat Gaethje, it would set up a grudge match against Topuria. It’s a fight both Pimblett and Topuria want to settle their longtime rivalry. Gaethje plans to ruin that bout from taking place anytime soon.
“Paddy Pimblett is a very popular guy right now, and it’s going to do great things. I’m going to do the same thing I did for the Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and Tony [Ferguson] thing. I’m going to f*ck this up. Paddy wants to fight Ilia. Ilia wants to fight Paddy. Yeah, that’s what they want, but I’m here to f*ck it up again and that’s what I do,” Gaethje said.
Ferguson was scheduled to face then-champion Nurmagomedov at UFC 249, but COVID-19 restrictions prevented the fight from happening. Gaethje stepped in to face Ferguson for the interim belt and beat him mercilessly. It was the beginning of Ferguson’s losing streak and the end of any hopes of Ferguson facing Nurmagomedov. Gaethje expects to do play spoiler again at UFC 324.
