Justin Gaethje survived a five-round war with the relentless Paddy Pimblett to win the interim UFC lightweight title by unanimous decision in a bloody and intense bout in Las Vegas.
The experienced American’s win ended Pimblett’s nine-fight winning streak in Saturday’s UFC 324 main event, but Gaethje paid tribute to the Liverpool fighter’s durability and heart.
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“Now Scouser is not down,” he said after the judges scored the fight 48-47, 49-46, 49-46 and the rising star of mixed martial arts walked away with his head held high.
“He was very dangerous and had great timing. … Young kid, dangerous kid. I had to steal his momentum and confidence,” Gaethje said.
Pimblett struck first in the opening round, but the tide quickly turned when Gaethje defeated Pimblett with a hard left punch. The American followed him to the mat with punitive ground strikes before the Brit scrambled to his feet.
A second right hand dropped Pimblett to the canvas, but Gaethje pounded him away until the horn sounded, and Pimblett was lucky to survive the round.
Despite bleeding from the nose and having cuts on his face, Pimblett continued with a series of clean strikes that staggered Gaethje in the third round. The round was briefly halted after a low blow left the 37-year-old American wincing.
The fourth round saw Gaethje regain the advantage after absorbing some early pressure, repeatedly finding the target with heavy right hands.
The cheering crowd was on its feet as the final round began, and Gaethje’s early slip opened the door for Pimblett, who unleashed a flurry of punches.
Gaethje responded with his signature right hand, and both fighters pushed hard for the finish, with Pimblett finishing it off with a strong final burst.
Pimblett showed grace even in defeat.
“I know how tough I am. I don’t need to prove it to anyone. I wanted to walk away with that belt, but there’s no other guy I’d rather lose to than ‘The Highlight,'” Pimblett said.
“Gaethje is someone I’ve loved watching UFC since I was a kid. It shows why he’s a legend. I thought 48-47 was a fair scorecard.”
“You live and you learn. I’m 31 years old. I’ll come back better. It’s as simple as that. You haven’t seen the last of me yet.”
Gaethje’s victory earned him the interim lightweight title for the second time in his career and set up an undisputed title fight against Ilya Topria, who left the fight in November amidst personal issues but is expected to return at some point in 2026.
The loss was Pimblett’s first loss since joining the UFC from his native England, ending a nine-fight winning streak and dropping his career record to 23-4-0.
Sean O’Malley, one of the UFC’s biggest stars, ended a two-fight losing streak in co-main events with a controversial unanimous decision victory over China’s Song Yadong.
Meanwhile, Dominican Republic’s Waldo Cortez-Acosta defeated Derrick Lewis by KO in 3 minutes and 14 seconds in the second round.
In the women’s bout, Brazil’s Natalia Silva defeated Rose Namajunas by unanimous decision for the flyweight title, but the result was met with unanimous disappointment from the Las Vegas crowd, who believed it was enough for Namajunas to pull off the upset over Silva.
With this result, Silva has won 14 straight fights and 8 in a row in the flyweight division, improving his overall record to 20 wins, 5 losses, and 1 draw. More importantly, she could be in line for a title fight against Valentina Shevchenko later this year.
In the main card opener, wildly popular Brazilian fighter Gian Silva bounced back from his loss to Diego Lopez in September to defeat England’s Arnold Allen in a hard-fought battle that was decided in the third round on two of the three official scorecards.
Dominick Cruz, a two-time bantamweight champion and the division’s first belt holder, was announced as the first member of the UFC’s 2026 Hall of Fame class at the conclusion of the qualifying show. Cruz will be inducted into the Modern Era Wing, which recognizes fighters who debuted after the first sanctioned UFC event under uniform rules was held on November 17, 2000.
