UFC: Gaethje vs. Pimblett for Interim Title | Topuria Out

[스포티비뉴스=김건일 기자] UFC created its first numbering competition in 2026 with major matchups.

UFC CEO Dana White announced this news during the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Dallas Cowboys NFL game on the 28th, saying that the main event of UFC 324, which will be held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, USA on January 25th (Korean time) next year, will be headlined by an interim lightweight title fight between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett.

Ilya Topuria remains the UFC’s official lightweight champion, but the UFC decided to introduce an interim title in January after Topuria said he needed a break for personal reasons.

Topuria recently said on social media: “I will not be fighting in the first quarter of next year. I am currently going through a difficult time in my personal life. I want to focus on my children and resolve the situation as quickly as possible. I do not want to delay the weight class. The UFC will make the matches necessary and once everything is resolved, I will let the UFC know that I am ready to return.”

Gaethje has not competed since losing a decision to Rafael Pyzyev in March. He has said that he will consider retirement if he does not get a title match in the next game.

Gaethje earned the right to challenge for the title by knocking out Dustin Poirier in 2023, but when the UFC needed a major match on the main card of UFC 300, he accepted a BMF title fight against Max Holloway that year and lost by KO in the fifth round.

Pimblett has been one of the fastest rising stars since leaving Cage Warriors and joining the UFC in 2021. He recorded a 7-fight win streak in the UFC, and achieved symbolic victories over Ferguson and Michael Chandler. There was talk that there could be a title match with Topuria in January.

The co-main event sees the return of former two-weight champion Amanda Nuñez against women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison. Nuñez, a former women’s bantamweight and women’s flyweight champion, returns from retirement for the first time since June 2023.

In addition, UFC 324 includes a bantamweight match between Sean O’Malley and Song Ya-dong, a heavyweight match between Derrick Lewis and Waldo Cortez Acosta, a Peterweight match between Arnold Allen and Jeao Silva, and a match between Alexa Grasso and Rose Namajunas.