Gaethje halts Pimblett

Justin Gaethje beat Paddy Pimblett by unanimous decision at UFC 324 and left Las Vegas with the interim lightweight belt. (ufc.com) The fight headlined UFC 324 at T-Mobile Arena on January 24, 2026, and all three judges scored it for Gaethje: 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47. (ufc.com) Gaethje dropped Pimblett multiple times across five rounds, but Pimblett survived the knockdowns and pushed the fight to the final horn. ESPN said Gaethje’s pressure kept Pimblett from settling in until late in the bout. (espn.com) The belt is interim because Ilia Topuria still holds the undisputed lightweight title. The Ultimate Fighting Championship said before UFC 324 that Topuria had stepped away from competition for outside-the-cage reasons, which opened the door for an interim title fight. (ufc.com) That made the Gaethje-Pimblett matchup more than a main event between contenders. It became the division’s holding pattern: keep 155 pounds moving while the champion is unavailable. (ufc.com) For Gaethje, the win revived a path he already traveled once. Sportsnet noted that he also won an interim lightweight title in 2020, then failed to unify it later that year against Khabib Nurmagomedov. (sportsnet.ca) For Pimblett, the loss stopped his rise at the point where prospect status turns into title reality. UFC had listed him among the division’s top contenders entering 2026, alongside Gaethje, Arman Tsarukyan, Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira. (ufc.com) The rankings shifted after the event. AgentMMA reported on April 13 that Gaethje moved to No. 1 in the promotion’s updated lightweight order, with Tsarukyan at No. 2 and Pimblett down at No. 6. (agentmma.com) The next question is timing, not opponent. UFC’s own event recap said the win gave Gaethje “a golden ticket” to face Topuria when Topuria returns later in 2026. (ufc.com)