Justin Gaethje has just one more obstacle between him and the undisputed UFC lightweight championship, following his unanimous decision win over Paddy Pimblett to claim the interim title in the main event at UFC 324 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Gaethje, a former divisional interim titleholder, appeared to turn back the clock against Pimblett, reverting to a more aggressive and chaotic style that kept Pimblett from finding his footing until late in the fight. Despite being knocked down several times, Pimblett never quit and even stormed back to put Gaethje in trouble, but it wasn't enough to get the win as the judges scored the fight 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47.
In the co-main event, former men's bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley ended a two-fight skid with a unanimous decision win over Song Yadong. The fight was closely contested, but O'Malley did enough to get the win on all three judges' scorecards.
Also on the card, Umar Nurmagomedov defeated Deiveson Figueiredo by unanimous decision, and Natalia Silva picked up a unanimous decision win over Rose Namajunas.
Brett Okamoto, Andreas Hale, Jeff Wagenheim and Dre Waters broke down all the action from the first UFC fight card of the year.
