With lightweight champion Ilia Topuria sidelined while he deals with personal issues, the UFC wasted no time booking an interim title fight between Paddy Pimblett and Justin Gaethje in his absence.
The fight serves as the main event for UFC 324, which is the promotion’s first show under a new seven year, $7.7 billion broadcast deal with Paramount. But Pimblett and Gaethje getting that opportunity over Arman Tsarukyan has ruffled more than a few feathers as he sits on the sidelines while two fighters ranked below him are getting a shot at UFC gold.
While UFC CEO Dana White has repeatedly stated that Tsarukyan had his chance and blew it when he suffered a fight week injury that knocked him out of a scheduled bout against then champion Islam Makhachev back in January 2025, Pimblett knows the reasons go much deeper than that.
“I think it’s just the way it panned out,” Pimblett said about his title shot when speaking to reporters ahead of UFC 324. “Because obviously Ilia’s sat out, Arman’s a little bitch, they don’t really want to give it to him. Then Max [Holloway] and Charles [Oliveira] are fighting each other for the ‘BMF’ belt so it all just worked out that it was me and Gaethje left.
“Everyone’s saying I don’t deserve a title shot, [Gaethje] doesn’t deserve a title shot but I’ve got the longest win streak in the division and Justin Gaethje’s a perennial contender. He’s an absolute legend. So I think they thought it was the right fight to make at the time. We’re not running around punching fans and walking out and headbutting fighters at weigh-ins. So I understand why we’re getting it and some certain d*ckheads aren’t.”
The “certain d*ckhead” is obviously referencing Tsarukyan, who was suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission after getting into a physical altercation with a fan during his walkout at UFC 300 and then headbutted Dan Hooker during a weigh-in faceoff ahead of their fight at UFC Qatar.
White’s argument against Tsarukyan getting a title shot has largely centered around dropping out of the fight against Makhachev on short notice, he also recently said the headbutt ahead of his fight with Hooker also played a part in him getting passed over.
That said, Pimblett has no problem eventually facing Tsarukyan and giving him a shot at the belt, especially if Topuria remains out of action for an extended period of time.
“That’s annoying me people saying ‘you’re ducking, Arman,’” Pimblett said. “I’ve never been offered to fight Arman. If I ever got offered to fight Arman, I would have punched his head in by now. He irritates me. He’s an absolute helmet.
“Yeah, I’d fight Arman in a heartbeat if Ilia can’t come back by June/July, then he needs stripping [of his title]. He’s slowing the division down and I’ll defend against Arman or Max [Holloway] or Charles [Oliveira] or whoever. I don’t care.”
First things first, Pimblett has to get through Gaethje on Jan. 24 and then he can start thinking about a future that potentially involves settling some unfinished business with Topuria, Tsarukyan or whoever else the UFC might throw at him.
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