Paddy Pimblett vs. Justin Gaethje, UFC 324

UFC 324 finally has a main event.

The first pay-per-view event of 2026 marks the promotion's new era with Paramount and will feature an interim lightweight title fight between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett. UFC 324 takes place Saturday, Jan. 24, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. With undisputed champion Ilia Topuria unable to defend in January, the promotion has decided to introduce an interim title.

UFC CEO Dana White officially announced the matchup Thursday during halftime of the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Dallas Cowboys NFL game.

Gaethje (26-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) gets another chance to claim UFC hardware. "The Highlight" won the interim title once before by stopping Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 in May 2020, but he failed to unify the belt against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 254 a few months later. He earned another title shot by getting past Michael Chandler but was submitted by Charles Oliveira at UFC 274. Two fights later, he won the BMF title by finishing Dustin Poirier in a rematch at UFC 291. The 37-year-old made one appearance in 2025, a Fight of the Night unanimous decision win over Rafael Fiziev at UFC 313.

Undefeated through seven UFC fights, Pimblett (23-3 MMA, 7-0 UFC) gets his first crack at gold. In his lone appearance of 2025, Pimblett stopped Michael Chandler at UFC 314, picking up his fifth Performance of the Night bonus in the process. Since his debut in 2021, the former Cage Warriors champion's level of opponent has steadily risen, and he now finds himself in a UFC title fight.

The current UFC 324 lineup includes:

  • Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett – for interim lightweight title
  • Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes – for women's bantamweight title
  • Sean O'Malley vs. Song Yadong
  • Arnold Allen vs. Jean Silva
  • Modestas Bukauskas vs. Nikita Krylov
  • Alexa Grasso vs. Rose Namajunas
  • Ateba Gautier vs. Andrey Pulayev

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett headlines UFC 324 for interim title

Reporting by Matthew Wells and Nolan King, MMA Junkie / MMA Junkie

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