How did we do last year? Well, everyone ended up hitting over .500, so there’s that. But regardless, it’s a clean slate and an interesting card to start the year, with some old guard versus new matchups.
That includes the main event. It seems like just yesterday that WSOF lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, that promotion’s biggest star, showed up in the UFC. In reality, it was almost nine years ago and Gaethje has been at the top of the division ever since. He has previously won an interim title, facing Tony Ferguson in 2020, and infamously threw it to the ground. He fell short twice in attempts to capture the undisputed UFC Lightweight Championship, but did claim the “BMF” title for a time, defeating Dustin Poirier to retain it.
What Gaethje really wants is one last run at an undisputed title, and that starts on Saturday night with Paddy Pimblett. Once a Cage Warriors star, Pimblett has taken the UFC by storm, quickly rising up the rankings in terms of both opponents and star power. Paddy ‘The Baddy’ has been exciting and entertaining from day one, but while he has faced the likes of King Green, Tony Ferguson and Michael Chandler, Gaethje is a different beast (someone who has beaten both Ferguson and Chandler, by the way).
The slate is clean and our picks are in for the first major event of 2026, UFC 324!
Well, we’re definitely seeing a changing of the guard on Saturday. And a few landslide choices could raise eyebrows. No one is siding with featherweight contender Arnold Allen against Jean Silva (actually, one late reaction means someone is, but still). That, despite Silva coming off a loss (a finish, even) to Diego Lopes last September.
Likewise, Natalia Silva appears to be an opponent for former strawweight champion ‘Thug’ Rose Namajunas, in their flyweight bout – a fight that could prove to be a title eliminator.
Song Yadong? He’s apparently the Rodney Dangerfield of China and gets absolutely no respect against Sean O’Malley. Not a single writer who responded picked Yadong to defeat the former champion.
Derrick Lewis vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta, meanwhile, was a little more divided. Lewis has a slight lead there. And the most important event? Perhaps surprisingly, it is Pimblett who gets the honors, by a margin of six to two.
#UFC #Gaethje #Pimblett #Main #card #staff #choice