OHHH PADDY THE BADDY - Paddy Pimblett Will Face Justin Gaethje For The UFC Interim Lightweight Championsip In January
Dana White loves breaking huge fights on Thanksgiving, doesn’t he?! I remember having to leave the dinner table a few years ago to blog the announcement of Conor McGregor vs Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone - and he decided to sprinkle a little chaos into all our lives today as well, announcing that Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett will be fighting Justin Gaethje for the UFC Interim Lightweight Title this January. This will headline the first card under the new Paramount era, which will also feature Kayla Harrison vs Amanda Nunes (in possibly the biggest superfight in women’s MMA history) and the return of “Suga” Sean O’Malley, where he will take on Song Yadong.
I’ll say right away that if you think I’m gonna even pretend to be neutral/unbiased here - you’ve got the wrong guy. I am fully, shamelessly, unapologetically going to be in the corner of Paddy in this fight, and I will be pushing his Scouse agenda any chance I get. Especially considering our friendship with Paddy is what made Justin Gaethje hate us in the first place!
Gaethje is, of course, the human equivalent of a frag grenade with a beard and some tats tho. I won’t pretend like he’s not dangerous. He brings an insane, balls-to-the-wall style to the table and is pretty much allergic to having boring fights. It never happens. But Paddy.…Paddy is Paddy. He DEFINITELY has the skills to knock out or submit Gaethje, and it’s going to be electric from the moment his entrance music hits to the time he leaves the octagon.
Why is this happening for the Interim Championship when Ilia Topuria isn’t hurt or anything? Well - initial speculation was that Topuria is a lunatic thinking about chasing Islam Makhachev up to Welterweight, attempting to win a title in three weight classes….
….but it appears to be stuff outside of the octagon pulling him away from training. I don’t wanna speculate too much on personal life issues but there’s been a lot in the press recently about it and he's even commented on it today….
A lot of people think Arman Tsarukyan should be next in line for the Lightweight title, but honestly - after the headbutt stunt he pulled last week, I don’t give a shit about what happens with him. Release him for all I care. Fairness is out the window when you start putting the company in risky spots like that.
So here we are: January, interim gold on the line, Paddy stepping into the cage for the biggest test of his career, and Justin Gaethje is the only thing standing in his way. My palms are sweating already. Can’t imagine how I’m gonna feel on the night of the fight. Let’s get the Baddy some gold.