Liverpool fighter Paddy Pimblett believes he will be the legitimate UFC lightweight champion when he faces Justin Gaethje at UFC 324 this Saturday, dismissing criticism about the interim nature of the belt and questioning his opponent's motivation heading into the contest.
Speaking with TMZ ahead of the January 24 bout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Pimblett addressed the distinction between interim and undisputed championships. The fight was created after current champion Ilia Topuria announced he would not compete in the first quarter of 2026 due to personal reasons related to his ongoing divorce proceedings.
Paddy Pimblett Defends Interim Title Status Ahead of UFC 324
"I am the UFC's lightweight champion while the champ's not there, you know what I mean?" Pimblett said. "Ilia's not fighting. The division needs to move on and for now I am the champion. I'm the active one, I'm the one who's going to be fighting; he's not. So when I win this belt, I am the champ."
The 31-year-old, who enters the fight ranked fifth in the lightweight division, also took aim at Gaethje's attitude toward interim titles. The 37-year-old former interim champion famously threw the belt on the floor after defeating Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 in May 2020, telling Joe Rogan he would "wait for the real one".
"I think that's another thing that goes against Justin," Pimblett continued. "He's not really too bothered about an interim title, is he? He threw it on the floor last time he won it. I think the only reason he's too interested in this one is because he's getting more money. You get paid more for challenging for the title. I think Justin's already checked out a little bit, to be honest."
Pimblett brings a seven-fight winning streak in the UFC into the contest, most recently stopping Michael Chandler in the third round at UFC 314 in April 2025. His undefeated run in the promotion has included victories over Tony Ferguson, King Green, and Jordan Leavitt, earning him five Performance of the Night bonuses.
Gaethje, ranked fourth at lightweight, last competed in March 2025 when he defeated Rafael Fiziev via majority decision at UFC 313. The former World Series of Fighting lightweight champion has lost both of his previous attempts at the undisputed UFC title, falling to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 254 in 2020 and Charles Oliveira at UFC 274 in 2022.
Topuria has indicated he plans to return to the octagon between April and June to face the winner in a unification bout. The 28-year-old Georgian-Spanish fighter won the lightweight title by knocking out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 in June 2025 and is dealing with custody matters and what he describes as "false allegations of domestic abuse" during divorce proceedings.
