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Justin Sledger Admits he “loves the fear of fighting people” Ilya Topriya.
January 24, Gaethje to face Paddy Pimblett temporary ultimate fighting championship lightweight champion, while regular champion Topriya Temporarily withdrawing from MMA due to personal reasons.
Theoretically, the winner of UFC 324 main event is Gaethje and Pimblett Will challenge Topuria later in 2026to unify the title.
Gaethje also got candid about his feelings about the matchup against undefeated Topria, who are coming off three straight eliminations – each against icons of the sport Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira.
“I mean, really, I believe…my A to B is what I have to trust,” Gaethje told ESPN sportsdiscussing a potential match against the Spanish-Georgian champions.
“I had to trust my instincts, I had to trust my ability to judge distance and time — and be right there.
“This sport is so crazy, anything can happen. That’s why we’re on edge every time we play because anything can happen at any time.
“Again, with a guy like that, the key is not to make mistakes: don’t eat his right hand, don’t walk into his right hand, his left hook…
“His two or three [right hand into left hook] This is one of the best combinations I’ve ever seen in this sport, so it’s a beautiful challenge. I love how scared I can feel. “
Topria knocked out former champion Oliveira in the first round in June to win the vacant lightweight belt. Prior to that fight, he won and defended the featherweight title in 2024 by knocking out Volkanovski and Holloway – both former 145-pound champions.
Topriya vacated the featherweight title before moving up to 155 pounds for a fight with Oliveira, and his second fight in the division will be decided by Gaethje against Pimblitt.
light will enter His showdown with Liverpudlians in Vegas Only one win in a row; in March, he defeated Rafael Fiziev for the second time in two years. Prior to that win, Gaethje was knocked down in the final second of a 25-minute fight with Holloway in 2024.
Gaethje vs. Pimblett will be the 37-year-old American’s sixth UFC title fight, which includes an interim title match and a “Baddest Motherf*****” (BMF) title match. His record in such games is 2-3. The fight, meanwhile, marks Pimblitt’s first UFC championship appearance.
In 2020, Gaethje defeated Tony Ferguson to win the interim lightweight title, but he failed to unify the belt with then-regular champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Gaethje again failed to win the undisputed belt in 2022, after winning the belt in a 1-1 decision over Dustin Poirier in the BMF title fight but losing it in a loss to Holloway.