Justin Gaethje has survived a five-round war with a relentless Paddy Pimblett to claim the interim UFC lightweight championship by unanimous decision in a bloody and bruising fight in Las Vegas.
The experienced American’s win put an end to Pimblett’s nine-fight winning run on Saturday at the UFC 324 main event, but Gaethje paid tribute to the Liverpool fighter’s durability and heart.
“Now that Scouser does not get knocked down,” he said after judges scored the fight 48-47, 49-46 and 49-46, which saw the MMA’s rising star walk away with his head held high.
“He is very dangerous, got great timing. … Young kid, dangerous kid. I had to steal his momentum and his confidence,” Gaethje said.
Pimblett struck first in the opening round, but the tide quickly turned when Gaethje cracked him with a heavy left-handed punch. The American followed him to the mat with punishing ground strikes before the Briton scrambled back to his feet.
A right hand dropped Pimblett to the canvas again in the second, and he was lucky to survive the round as Gaethje pounded away until the horn sounded.
Despite bleeding from the nose and cuts to his face, Pimblett strung together some clean flurries in the third round that had Gaethje wobbling. The round was briefly paused after a low blow had the 37-year-old American grimacing.
The fourth round swung back in Gaethje’s favour after he absorbed some early pressure, repeatedly finding his target with heavy right hands.
The roaring crowd was on its feet as the final round began, and an early slip from Gaethje opened the door for Pimblett, who unloaded a barrage of punches.
Gaethje answered in trademark fashion with a booming right hand and both fighters pushed hard for the finish with Pimblett closing with a strong final burst.
Pimblett showed grace in defeat.
“I know how tough I am. I don’t need to prove it to anyone. I wanted to leave with that belt, but there’s no other man I’d rather lose to than ‘The Highlight’,” Pimblett said.
“Gaethje is someone I’ve loved watching growing up, watching the UFC. It shows why he’s a legend right there. I thought 48-47 was a fair scorecard.
“You live and you learn. I’m 31. I’ll be back better. It’s as simple as that. You haven’t seen the last of me.”
Gaethje’s win gave him his second career interim lightweight championship and sets up an undisputed title fight against Ilia Topuria, who stepped away in November amid mounting personal issues but is expected to return at some point in 2026.
The loss was Pimblett’s first in the UFC since joining from his native England, snapping a nine-fight winning streak and dropping him to 23-4-0 in his career.
Sean O’Malley, one of the UFC’s biggest stars, ended a two-fight losing skid in the co-main event with a controversial unanimous decision victory over Song Yadong of China.
Meanwhile, Waldo Cortes-Acosta of the Dominican Republic defeated Derrick Lewis by knockout at 3:14 in the second round.
In women’s fights, Natalia Silva of Brazil defeated Rose Namajunas by unanimous decision in a potential flyweight title eliminator although the outcome was also met with unanimous dismay from a Vegas crowd that clearly believed Namajunas did enough to pull off the upset against Silva.
The performance marks Silva’s 14th straight victory and her eighth consecutive in the flyweight division to improve her overall record to 20-5-1. More importantly, it may line her up for a title shot against Valentina Shevchenko later this year.
The opening fight of the main card saw heavily favoured Brazilian fighter Jean Silva rebound from his loss against Diego Lopes in September, defeating England’s Arnold Allen in a slugfest that was decided in the third round on two of three official scorecards.
Dominick Cruz, a two-time bantamweight champion and the division’s inaugural belt holder, was announced as the first member of the UFC’s 2026 Hall of Fame class at the conclusion of the preliminary show. Cruz will be inducted into the Modern Era Wing, which honours fighters who debuted after the first sanctioned UFC event under unified rules was held on November 17, 2000.
Originally published at Al Jazeera
