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Ex-UFC champion torches promotion for booking Paddy Pimblett title fight at UFC 324

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Drew Beaupre | Last updated Dec 24, 2025 10:23 AM ET

Former UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold isn’t thrilled with the promotion’s insistence on booking Paddy Pimblett into a UFC title fight.

The UFC lightweight title currently belongs to Ilia Topuria following his first-round knockout of Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 in July, but Topuria has unfortunately made it clear that he doesn’t intend to return to the cage until he’s dealt with some ongoing personal issues.

The champion’s hiatus encouraged the UFC to set up an interim lightweight title bout between Pimblett and Justin Gaethje, which will serve as the main event of a UFC 324 card that formally kicks off the promotion’s new deal with Paramount on January 24.

Luke Rockhold Sounds Off On Paddy Pimblett Title Shot

Both the choice to set up an interim title fight and Pimblett’s involvement with the matchup were met with a bit of surprise from much of the MMA community, and Rockhold claims the UFC is desperate to capitalize on the popularity of “The Baddy”.

"I think they're trying to do anything they can to put little Paddy into a title situation," Rockhold said on Submission Radio (h/t MMA Junkie). “I'm annoyed with fighters that think that the interim title means anything. You see guys like Justin Gaethje, and he knows it…He wants to be a real champion, but then you've got Paddy, who's already talking about, 'I'm going to be champion.’”

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A former interim lightweight champion himself, Gaethje came up short against Khabib Nurmagomedov in a title unification bout at UFC 254 but now has the chance to set himself up for another undisputed title opportunity after defeating Rafael Fiziev in a short-notice rematch at UFC 313.

Rockhold Would Prefer To See Arman Tsarukyan In UFC Title Fight

Both Gaethje and Pimblett are ranked in the Top 5 of a stacked UFC lightweight division, but Rockhold also went on to question why #1-ranked Arman Tsarukyan isn’t involved with the UFC 324 main event.

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“Arman's a beast. Look what he's doing in grappling right now and how he's just destroying these guys. It's not easy and how he translates it to fighting, he's a problem for everybody."

Tsrukyan was poised for a title shot against then-UFC lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev at UFC 311 but unfortunately withdrew with a back injury on weigh-in day. The 29-year-old submitted Dan Hooker in his return at UFC Qatar earlier this year, and his only setbacks in the UFC were his promotional debut against Makhachev and contentious decision-loss to Mateusz Gamrot in 2022.

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Liverpool’s Pimblett is 7-0 since joining the UFC in 2021, and “The Baddy” will have the chance to silence some of the fans that have questioned the overall quality of his Octagon wins when he and Gaethje square off for the interim lightweight belt at UFC 324.