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Paddy Pimblett teases ignoring advice and shocking fans with his strategy against Justin Gaethje

Originally posted on Bloody Elbow | By Harvey Leonard | Last updated Dec 9, 2025 9:05 PM ET

Paddy Pimblett won’t shy away from risk in his first UFC title fight.

‘The Baddy’ has been given a controversial championship opportunity in 2026, as his interim lightweight title fight against Justin Gaethje kicks off the new year for MMA’s leading promotion.

Dana White announced Gaethje vs Pimblett as the main event of UFC 324 on January 24, with the pair serving as the first headlining matchup on Paramount+.

The decision to grant Pimblett a shot over top contender Arman Tsarukyan has caused uproar, but the Scouser is confident of making the most of the chance coming his way by getting the better of Gaethje.

Interestingly, he does not plan to defeat ‘The Highlight’ in the way most would expect…

Paddy Pimblett vows to shock the world with how he beats Justin Gaethje at UFC 324

Gaethje has fallen short of the undisputed lightweight crown on two separate occasions, and one weakness paved the way for both setbacks.

After winning the interim title in 2020, Gaethje was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov. He later suffered the same fate against Charles Oliveira in 2022.

With Pimblett’s grappling pedigree in mind, the path to victory for the Briton would appear to be clear. ‘The Baddy’, however, has other ideas.

“Everyone’s gonna be shocked, to be honest, because I think I’m gonna knock him out,” Pimblett recently told Red Corner MMA.

“So people won’t expect that. People think I’m just gonna try to grapple and take him down, but I’m not. I’m gonna come out and I’m gonna put it on him.

“I don’t see him getting past the third (round), just like Chandler,” he added.

Justin Gaethje’s ex-rival advised Paddy Pimblett to target his jiu-jitsu

Should Pimblett follow through on those comments come fight night at T-Mobile Arena, it will mark a much different strategy than one man with experience in beating Gaethje would have advised.

Eddie Alvarez believes Pimblett can exploit Gaethje’s jiu-jitsu weakness, much like Nurmagomedov and Oliveira did in the American’s two title fight losses thus far.

“Paddy makes a lot of mistakes, right? He’s susceptible to getting knocked out, but he’s great, great, great in the scrambles,” Alvarez explained on The Bohnfire.

“If Justin had a weakness, like if I was to say, ‘Hey, Justin, we want to attack him here,’ it would be his jiu-jitsu.

“He has great wrestling, he has great standups, and he’s starting to get more defensively-minded,” he added.

“If he had a weakness, it would be jiu-jitsu, and that is where Paddy is strong. … He plays into Justin’s weaknesses really well if he kind of creates those scrambles and that chaos.”

This article first appeared on Bloody Elbow and was syndicated with permission.

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