UFC 324 takeaways: Gaethje has a lot of fight left in him
Justin Gaethje became the UFC interim lightweight champion for the second time Saturday night, defeating Paddy Pimblett in a wild slugfest during the UFC 324 main event in Las Vegas.
In the co-headliner, former bantamweight champ Sean O'Malley got back on track with a unanimous decision win over Song Yadong.
Here are five takeaways from the first event of the Paramount+ era.
Gaethje turns back the clock
Don't count out "The Highlight" - at least not yet.
That's the biggest lesson I learned from Gaethje's exhilarating, y'all-must've-forgot win over Pimblett, in which he did more damage and outlasted his younger opponent in the championship rounds. A lot of people - myself included - thought Gaethje's brawling style may have finally caught up to him when he suffered a devastating knockout loss to Max Holloway at UFC 300 in April 2024. But he's since rattled off two straight victories, making it clear that there's still some gas left in the tank.
This was, at least in a sense, a vintage Justin Gaethje performance. A bite-down-on-your-mouthpiece, throw-caution-to-the-wind kind of fight. Was this Gaethje at his peak? No. But at 37 years old, he still has what it takes to go five rounds, deliver a Fight of the Year candidate, and get his hand raised.
The determination Gaethje has shown to reach this point is unreal. He won the interim lightweight title in May 2020 but failed to unify the belts when he faced Khabib Nurmagomedov five months later. Gaethje fought for the undisputed belt again in 2022, losing to Charles Oliveira. And here he is, four years later, ready for one last shot against Ilia Topuria. That kind of longevity, with his kind of fight style, is practically unheard of.
Pimblett is pretty tough too
Pimblett deserves praise for his efforts against Gaethje. He didn't win, but he became the first man to take Gaethje the distance in a five-round fight. He also overcame two knockdowns. He even landed more significant strikes in three of five rounds and held a 156-144 edge overall.
Gaethje said it best after the fight: Scousers - at least this scouser - don't get knocked out.
This loss was indeed a setback for Pimblett, who was one win away from a megafight and undisputed title shot versus Topuria later this year. Pimblett had never lost in the UFC and was on track to becoming one of the biggest stars in the sport. However, the defeat might be worth it in the long run. It'll make him better, and it proved he can hang with the best of the best.
At 31 years old, Pimblett has a lot of time to get back in the title mix. He said in the Octagon after the fight, "I'll be back better. It's as simple as that. You haven't seen the last of me." It's easy to believe that.
Tsarukyan still the biggest challenge for Topuria
Gaethje is the interim champion, but when it comes to the most compelling opponent for Topuria, that designation still belongs to Arman Tsarukyan.
Ranked No. 1 in the division before UFC 324, Tsarukyan deserved to be fighting for the interim title Saturday. He's riding a five-fight winning streak and is 10-1 in his last 11 Octagon appearances. But UFC CEO Dana White apparently still thinks Tsarukyan needs to do more to earn another shot after pulling out of a title fight against Islam Makhachev at the last minute 12 months ago.
Regardless, Topuria-Tsarukyan is a much more competitive matchup than Topuria-Gaethje on paper. Tsarukyan remains the second-best lightweight in the UFC - and the toughest test for Topuria - unless proven otherwise.
Dvalishvili a big winner
You have to feel pretty good about your chances of getting the next bantamweight title shot if you're Merab Dvalishvili. O'Malley and Umar Nurmagomedov had an opportunity to skip the line with an impressive performance at UFC 324. But it's hard to say that their respective wins over Song and Deiveson Figueiredo were enough to convince the UFC brass that they should be next up for Petr Yan.
Dvalishvili called for an immediate rematch as soon as he lost the belt to Yan at UFC 323 in December - and he might just get it.
Jean Silva is a wild man
OK, I guess technically we already knew that before he jumped off Arnold Allen's back with a few seconds left in their featherweight bout. But just look at these photos. "Lord" Silva really is something else.
