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Paddy Pimblett will fight Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight belt in January
Alex PattleCombat Sports EditorFriday 28 November 2025 15:52 GMTComments
ClosePaddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria in hotel bust-up before UFC London
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Ilia Topuria has revealed that the UFC’s decision to create an interim lightweight title stemmed from a “difficult moment” in his “personal life”.
On Thursday, the UFC announced that Paddy Pimblett will fight Justin Gaethje for an interim version of Topuria’s title in January. Pimblett vs Gaethje will headline UFC 324, the first event of the promotion’s deal with Paramount+.
Many fans expected Topuria, one of the UFC’s biggest stars, to be brought in to headline the card against either Pimblett or Gaethje, but the UFC instead opted to pair the Liverpudlian with the American.
This news came shortly after Topuria, 28, tweeted: “I won’t be fighting in the first quarter of next year. I’m going through a difficult moment in my personal life.
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“I want to focus on my children and resolve this situation as soon as possible. I don’t want to hold up the division.
“The UFC will make the matchups needed, and as soon as the matters are resolved I'll let the UFC know I'm ready to begin my return.”
Topuria last fought in June, knocking out former champion Charles Oliveira in the first round to claim the vacant lightweight belt. Four months earlier, the Spanish-Georgian vacated the featherweight belt.
open image in galleryPaddy Pimblett (right) facing off with Ilia Topuria after the latter’s lightweight-title win (Getty Images)Fans have long awaited news around Topuria’s first title defence at 155lb, with some hoping the unbeaten champion would be paired with Pimblett, with whom he has held a grudge since 2022.
At the time, Topuria confronted Pimblett at the fighter hotel before UFC London, taking issue with tweets posted by the Liverpudlian, which “El Matador” alleged were anti-Georgian.
And as recently as last week, Topuria and Pimblett crossed paths and traded barbs, with Topuria calling “Paddy The Baddy” a “p***y” in Qatar, where each man was supporting at least one teammate.
open image in galleryJustin Gaethje (right) during his second victory over Rafael Fiziev (Getty Images)Pimblett, 30, last fought in April, dominating and stopping former Bellator champion Michael Chandler. Meanwhile, Gaethje last competed in March, outpointing Rafael Fiziev for the second time.
The American, 37, will aim to regain the interim lightweight belt when he fights Pimblett, having previously held it in 2020.
That May, Gaethje stopped Tony Ferguson to claim the interim strap, but he failed to unify the belt with regular champion Khabib Nurmagomedov five months later, suffering a submission loss.
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