Justin Gaethje survived a five-round struggle with a relentless Paddy Pimblett to assert the interim UFC light-weight championship by unanimous resolution in a bloody and bruising battle in Las Vegas.
The skilled American’s win put an finish to Pimblett’s nine-fight successful run on the UFC 324 predominant occasion on Saturday, however Gaethje paid tribute to the Liverpool fighter’s sturdiness and coronary heart.
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“Now that Scouser doesn’t get knocked down,” he stated after judges scored the battle 48-47, 49-46 and 49-46, which noticed MMA’s rising star stroll away along with his head held excessive.
“He’s very harmful, received nice timing… younger child, harmful child. I needed to steal his momentum and his confidence,” Gaethje stated.
Pimblett struck first within the opening spherical however the tide rapidly turned when Gaethje cracked him with a heavy left-handed punch. The American adopted him to the mat with punishing floor strikes earlier than the Briton scrambled again to his ft.
A proper hand dropped Pimblett to the canvas once more within the second and he was fortunate to outlive the spherical as Gaethje pounded away till the horn sounded.
Nevertheless, regardless of bleeding from the nostril and cuts to his face, Pimblett strung collectively some clear flurries within the third spherical that had Gaethje wobbling, with the spherical briefly paused after a low blow had the 37-year-old American grimacing.
The fourth spherical swung again in Gaethje’s favour after he absorbed some early stress, repeatedly discovering his goal with heavy proper palms.
The roaring crowd have been on their ft as the ultimate spherical started and an early slip from Gaethje opened the door for Pimblett, who unloaded a barrage of punches.
Gaethje answered in trademark trend with a booming proper hand and each fighters pushed laborious for the end, with Pimblett closing with a robust ultimate burst.
Pimblett confirmed grace in defeat.
“I understand how robust I’m, I don’t have to show it to anybody. I needed to go away with that belt, however there’s no different man I’d slightly lose to than ‘The Spotlight’,” Pimblett stated.
“Gaethje is somebody I’ve liked watching rising up, watching the UFC. It reveals why he’s a legend proper there. I believed 48-47 was a good scorecard.
“You reside and also you study. I’m 31. I’ll be again higher, it’s so simple as that. You haven’t seen the final of me.”
Gaethje’s win gave him his second profession interim light-weight championship and units up an undisputed title battle in opposition to Ilia Topuria, who stepped away final November amidst mounting private points however is predicted to return sooner or later in 2026.
The loss was Pimblett’s first in UFC since becoming a member of from his native England, snapping a nine-fight successful streak and dropping him to 23-4-0 in his profession.
Sean O’Malley, certainly one of UFC’s largest stars, ended a two-fight shedding skid within the co-main occasion with a controversial unanimous resolution victory over Tune Yadong of China.
In the meantime, Waldo Cortes-Acosta of the Dominican Republic defeated Derrick Lewis by knockout at 3:14 within the second spherical.
In ladies’s fights, Natalia Silva of Brazil defeated Rose Namajunas by unanimous resolution in a possible flyweight title eliminator, though the controversial consequence was met with unanimous dismay from a Vegas crowd that clearly believed Namajunas did sufficient to tug off the upset in opposition to Silva.
The efficiency marks Silva’s 14th straight victory and her eighth consecutive within the flyweight division to enhance her general report to 20-5-1. Extra importantly, it could line her up for a title shot in opposition to Valentina Shevchenko later this 12 months.
The opening battle of the primary card noticed closely favoured Brazilian fighter Jean Silva rebound from his loss in opposition to Diego Lopes in September, defeating England’s Arnold Allen in a slugfest that was determined within the third spherical on two of three official scorecards.
Dominick Cruz, a two-time Bantamweight champion and the division’s inaugural belt holder, was introduced as the primary member of UFC’s 2026 Corridor of Fame class on the conclusion of the prelim present. Cruz can be inducted into the “Trendy Period Wing”, which honours fighters who debuted after the primary sanctioned UFC occasion beneath unified guidelines was held on November 17, 2000.
