Paddy Pimblett won’t draw back from risk in his first UFC title fight.
‘The Baddy’ has been given a controversial championship opportunity in 2026, as his interim lightweight title fight against Justin Gaethje kicks off the brand new yr for MMA’s leading promotion.
Dana White announced Gaethje vs Pimblett because the primary event of UFC 324 on January 24, with the pair serving as the primary headlining matchup on Paramount+.
The choice to grant Pimblett a shot over top contender Arman Tsarukyan has caused uproar, however the Scouser is confident of profiting from the possibility coming his way by getting the higher of Gaethje.
Interestingly, he doesn’t plan to defeat ‘The Highlight’ in the way in which most would expect…
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Justin Gaethje has 6 finishes contained in the UFC Octagon, while Paddy Pimblett has 5. Whose highlight reel is best? 👊
Paddy Pimblett vows to shock the world with how he beats Justin Gaethje at UFC 324
Gaethje has fallen in need of the undisputed lightweight crown on two separate occasions, and one weakness paved the way in which for each setbacks.
After winning the interim title in 2020, Gaethje was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov. He later suffered the identical fate against Charles Oliveira in 2022.
With Pimblett’s grappling pedigree in mind, the trail to victory for the Briton would look like clear. ‘The Baddy’, nevertheless, has other ideas.
“Everyone’s gonna be shocked, to be honest, because I feel I’m gonna knock him out,” Pimblett recently told Red Corner MMA.
“So people won’t expect that. People think I’m just gonna attempt to grapple and take him down, but I’m not. I’m gonna come out and I’m gonna put it on him.
“I don’t see him getting past the third (round), similar to Chandler,” he added.
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Justin Gaethje’s ex-rival advised Paddy Pimblett to focus on his jiu-jitsu
Should Pimblett follow through on those comments come fight night at T-Mobile Arena, it’ll mark a much different strategy than one man with experience in beating Gaethje would have advised.
Eddie Alvarez believes Pimblett can exploit Gaethje’s jiu-jitsu weakness, very like Nurmagomedov and Oliveira did within the American’s two title fight losses up to now.
“Paddy makes lots of mistakes, right? He’s prone to getting knocked out, but he’s great, great, great within the scrambles,” Alvarez explained on The Bohnfire.
“If Justin had a weakness, like if I used to be to say, ‘Hey, Justin, we would like to attack him here,’ it will be his jiu-jitsu.
“He has great wrestling, he has great standups, and he’s beginning to get more defensively-minded,” he added.
“If he had a weakness, it will be jiu-jitsu, and that’s where Paddy is powerful. … He plays into Justin’s weaknesses very well if he type of creates those scrambles and that chaos.”
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