Justin Gaethje Surprises by Paddy Pimblett’s Durability in UFC 324 Headliner

Justin Gaethje did not get the desired reaction from Paddy Pimblett with his shots. Gaethje fought Pimblett for the interim lightweight title at UFC 324 in Las Vegas last weekend. Gaethje gave Pimblett a brutal beating en route to a unanimous victory. Gaethje recently revealed that he really wanted to finish Pimblett. But Gaethje was surprised when Pimblett refused to go down despite eating a few big shots. However, Gaethje dropped Pimblett and visibly rocked him several times over five rounds. “The Highlight” shows that the shots that hurt Pimblett weren’t actually thrown with that intention.

On the hunt for the finish

“I really, really wanted to finish him,” Gaethje told the UFC. “I can’t believe he didn’t fall asleep. I hit him a little bit with some big shots. The ones I hurt him with are the ones you don’t try with. I remember hitting him hard but not hurting him. I thought, wow, that should have hurt him. And I remember him getting hurt and thinking, ‘What just happened.'”While Gaethje (27-5) dropped Pimblett (23-4) in the opening round, he didn’t even know what shot he was making. Gaethje even asked his corner at the end of the round if they knew which shot Pimblett dropped.

Gaethje is now 4-1 in his last five, with the loss coming against Max Holloway. Gaethje is now expected to fight Ilia Topuria in a lightweight title unification bout later this year.