LAS VEGAS – After Justin Gaethje came out on the wrong side of one of the most iconic moments in MMA history at UFC 300, the assumption was that we saw one of the sport’s all-time characters go out on his sword entirely.
The reality of that devastating knockout to Max Holloway was that Gaethje had just suffered a third loss in six fights after winning his first interim title belt in May 2020. At 35, it was far from a guarantee that he’d be able to work his way back to another shot at his first undisputed title.
After dominating Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324 on Saturday night, the now 37-year-old Gaethje will get the biggest opportunity of his career against Ilia Topuria for the undisputed title belt at some point in 2026, potentially at the White House. Topuria relinquished the belt amidst domestic issues last month but is expected to return at some point later in the year.
Gaetjhe nearly ended the fight in the opening minutes, but Pimblett survived the early onslaught and managed to drag the fight through four more rounds. While moral victories hardly exist in professional sports, the fact that Pimblett even made it to a decision earned him the respect of the fans in the arena.
Gaethje has previously fought for the undisputed belt twice in his career, losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov as interim champion at UFC 249 in 2020 and to Tony Ferguson for the vacant belt at UFC 274 in 2022.
Before Gaetjhe registered his second straight lights-out performance as a betting underdog on Saturday, the idea that he could pose even a plausible threat to Topuria seemed like wishful thinking. By landing 55 percent of his total strikes and all three of his takedown attempts, Gaethje proved he can still dictate the pace against an elite talent.
"I don't think people understand what I'm doing in there," Gaethje said. "I've said it before I even got to the UFC. There's a method to the madness. It looks like absolute chaos, but it's less than seconds, less than inches. And my coach taught me how to be great in those areas."
Whether that means he can truly pose a threat to Topuria is up for debate. Dana White, for one, is confident Gaethje can hang if he has a good camp.
"It's going to be interesting," White said. "I think that Ilia hits like a truck, and so does Gaethje. I think if Gaethje prepares properly and gets ready for this fight, it should be a fun one."
Redemption was the theme of the night at T-Mobile Arena. “Suga” Sean O’Malley, one of the sport’s biggest stars, rebounded from back-to-back losses with a close victory over Song Yadong in the co-main event. O’Malley put together what he would call an “OG Suga” performance, landing 52 percent of his significant strike attempts to Song’s 38 percent.
"I felt like I took winning for granted for a while," O'Malley said. "I feel like I just never lost, now coming off two losses, it really feels good to win. I just kind always feel like I'm going to win, so after coming off those losses I definitely felt good."
The decision was slightly controversial because of mixed interpretations about who won the first round, but the reality is O’Malley struck at a higher percentage in 2-of-3 rounds and finished the fight ablaze while Song was merely trying to make it to the finish line. O’Malley credited a clean bill of health entering the fight for his performance, although he did enter the post-fight press conference in a boot.
"Every time I fight, I hurt my feet," O'Malley said. "It's always my foot, just swollen. It'll cool out a little bit. A couple shots of tequila, a little 'something something', it will kill (the pain) a little bit."
