UFC’s Paramount era got off to a solid start, but the main event–while exciting–was peculiar. Justin Gaethje captured the interim UFC lightweight title with a unanimous-decision win over Paddy Pimblett.
The fight was unquestionably the best scrap of the evening, but the way it played out was plain strange. Pimblett, the expert grappler with the underdeveloped stand-up skills, never once made a true attempt to take Gaethje to the ground.
While Pimblett had his moments in the 25-minute war, he was mostly battered around the Octagon as he chose to try to win the interim strap by fighting his opponent’s fight.
I don’t want to take too much away Gaethje or the raw excitement of the fight, but as a fan of sports and MMA, I like to see one fighter bring their best in against their opponent’s best.
We didn’t see that from Pimblett. The fact that there were almost no calls for him to take Gaethje down from the commentary team was even wilder.
Still, congratulations to Gaethje, the new interim champion.
Sean O’Malley Back in the Win Column
The former UFC bantamweight champion is back in the winners column after a two-year drought. Song pushed O’Malley to the brink and the first was was close, but O’Malley was dominant in the third and final frame to earn the victory.
After the win, O’Malley called out reigning champion Petr Yan for a rematch. O’Malley won the first meeting. The more logical fight would see O’Malley take on another winner from Saturday night–Umar Nurmagomedov.
UFC 324 Bonus Winners
Fight of the Night
Gaethje and Pimblett both claimed bonuses for Fight of the Night.
UFC Bonuses
Ty Miller and Josh Hokit took home the other $100,000 bonuses.
Every fighter who won by KO or submission who didn’t get a $100K bonus earned an additional $25,000.
Main Card Results
- Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett – UFC Interim Lightweight Championship
- Sean O’Malley def. Song Yadong via unanimous decision (29-28×3)
- Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Derrick Lewis via TKO (strikes), Round 2
- Natalia Silva def. Rose Namajunas via unanimous decision (29-28×3)
- Jean Silva def. Arnold Allen via unanimous decision (29-28×3)
Prelims
- Umar Nurmagomedov def. Deiveson Figueiredo – Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Ateba Gautier def. Andrey Pulyaev – Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Nikita Krylov def. Modestas Bukauskas – KO, Round 3, 4:57
- Alex Perez def. Charles Johnson – TKO (strikes), Round 1, 3:16
- Josh Hokit def. Denzel Freeman – TKO (strikes), Round 1, 4:59
- Ty Miller def. Adam Fugitt – TKO, Round 1, 4:59