Paddy Pimblett, Justin Gaehtje and the Real Winners, Losers and Results From UFC 324
The stars were out in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
The UFC returned to T-Mobile Arena for its first show of 2026, an 11-bout event whose main card, UFC 324, featured unbeaten (in the promotion) lightweight Paddy Pimblett making his first bid for a championship belt, albeit an interim version, in the final fight.
The popular Englishman took on American veteran Justin Gaethje in a scheduled five-rounder that essentially determines the next challenger in line for full-fledged champ Ilia Topuria, who's taken a leave from fighting to deal with personal issues.
Pimblett was 7-0 since arriving in 2021 and stopped former Gaethje foe Michael Chandler in three rounds in his most recent appearance at UFC 314 last April, while Gaethje's last fight was a month earlier when he out-pointed Rafael Fiziev at UFC 313.
Former bantamweight king Sean O'Malley appeared in the co-main, and a handful of other ex-champs and title challengers were elsewhere on a card that lost a would-be women's bantamweight title bout between Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes when Harrison was injured in training.
The B/R combat staff was in position to take in the action and delivered a real-time rundown of the show's definitive winners and losers. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the app comments.
Winner: Staying in the Spotlight
1 of 13
Every pre-fight sign indicated it was time to pass the torch.
Pimblett, six years younger and with far fewer miles on his MMA odometer, was a significant betting favorite and had a crowd full of enthusiastic Vegas fight fans singing him into the cage before Bruce Buffer's official introductions.
But Gaethje, at age 37, wasn't quite ready to cede the main stage.
Instead, the 15-year veteran pressed forward with his trademark heavy hands, hurting Pimblett on several occasions and weathering a few storms coming back in his direction while winning a unanimous decision in an early "Fight of the Year" favorite.
"I had to put him on his back foot, steal his momentum and his confidence," Gaethje said. "The strategy was to push him back, put my head in his chest."
He landed a hard body shot and a powerful uppercut that had Pimblett in serious trouble in the first round and drew blood with a shot to the head that cut the Englishman over the right eye in the second.
Pimblett rallied with faster hands against a seemingly tiring Gaethje in the third, but the American managed to keep landing powerful shots to blunt whatever momentum his rival was gaining down the stretch.
One judge saw it 3-2 in rounds, and the other two had it 4-1 for Gaethje, who began his second run as interim champ at 155 pounds.
He won the second-tier belt with a defeat of Tony Ferguson in 2020 and parlayed it into a title shot five months later, but lost by second-round submission to Khabib Nurmagomedov in the Russian's final fight.
It was a first UFC loss for Pimblett and his first in any company since 2018.
"I wanted to be walking away with that belt," Pimblett said. "I know how tough I am. But there's no other man I'd rather lose to. It shows what a legend he is."
Winner: "Suga Show" 2.0
2 of 13
The clock was ticking on the "Suga Show."
Ex-bantamweight king O'Malley was in tough with surging No. 5 contender Song Yadong in the co-main, and, as the third round began, it seemed he'd need a decisive stand to keep from a reputation-shattering third straight loss.
To say he delivered the goods would be a championship-level understatement.
The 31-year-old from Arizona blunted his Chinese rival's momentum with effective movement and applied an exclamation point down the stretch with hard jabs, crosses, and a vicious knee that left blood pouring from a tiring Yadong's nose and mouth.
It was enough to sweep the round across the board and lock in a narrow unanimous decision that featured matching 29-28 scores—or 2-1 in rounds—from all three judges. The B/R card also had it 2-1 for O'Malley, giving him rounds one and three.
"Championship mindset, baby," he said. "This feels so f--king good. God, it feels good to win. I hate losing."
He called for an immediate shot against new champ Petr Yan, whom he defeated by decision at UFC 280 in 2022.
"Yan has something that I want," O'Malley said. "You want that rematch. I want that belt. Let's make it happen."
Loser: Heavyweight Heart
3 of 13
The "USA, USA" chants were audible from a Vegas crowd, no doubt looking forward to another of heavyweight contender Derrick Lewis' unique post-fight celebrations.
Problem was, Waldo Cortes-Acosta was in no mood for either.
The fifth-ranked Dominican was faster, busier, and seemingly more willing to stay in the fray than his 40-year-old counterpart, who slipped to the floor after being hit with a jab in the second round, then stayed there for a dozen or so ground strikes that prompted referee Jason Herzog to intervene at 3:14 of Round 2.
It was a 10th win in 12 UFC outings for Cortes-Acosta, while Lewis looked far more like the fighter who'd lost five of seven from 2021 to 2023 than the one who'd climbed back to No. 8 among the heavyweights with a win apiece in 2024 and 2025.
He'd been stopped in four of those five losses, including three by KO and one by submission, and has gone just 8-7 in 15 fights since a loss to then-champ Daniel Cormier in 2018. Cortes-Acosta, meanwhile, made his post-fight pitch for a bout with No. 4 contender Curtis Blaydes, whom Lewis finished five years ago.
"I'm not surprised at all," Cortes-Acosta said. "That's what I wanted to show, my calmness, my patience, and the way I carry myself inside the octagon."
Loser: Eliminator Excitement
4 of 13
It's getting more challenging to watch Rose Namajunas fight.
Make no mistake, the former two-time strawweight champ is still relevant and has warranted her place as the No. 6 contender among the flyweights entering her main card title eliminator with second-ranked Natalia Silva.
But she hasn't exactly been fan-friendly—prompting analyst Joe Rogan to suggest her 2022 fight with Carla Esparza be deleted from Paramount's archive of UFC bouts—and it didn't change across 15 desultory minutes against a Brazilian rival.
The fighters spent much of their competitive time standing at a distance and feinting, ultimately combining to land just 77 significant strikes before Silva was awarded a unanimous but hardly clear-cut decision by a trio of 29-28 scores.
B/R had it 29-28 for Namajunas, and the crowd was more intense, voicing its displeasure for the scoring than for anything that had occurred during the fight.
"This was not my best moment. Only God knows how hard it was to be here now," Silva said. "Rose is an amazing athlete and I was facing this as the toughest fight in my life."
Winner: Versatile Victory
5 of 13
You may have thought Jean Silva lived and died solely by the power shot.
If so, you thought wrong.
The 10th-ranked Brazilian was indeed the more powerful fighter and landed the more impactful blows in his main card opener against No. 6 featherweight Arnold Allen, but it was perseverance and resilience that earned him a win by competitive decision.
Silva, now 6-1 in the UFC since a Dana White's Contender Series arrival in 2023, was on the short end of both speed and output through the first five minutes.
But he kept marching forward, kept throwing hard combinations to the body and head while mixing in grappling as Allen's movement slowed, and the British veteran was more obviously rattled as the shots landed.
"We prepared as a team to be here for a three-round fight, a three-round war," Silva said. "I wanted to knock him out so badly, but my team kept telling me to 'Wait, wait.'"
Ultimately, Silva landed 74 significant strikes to Allen's 56, scored all four of the fight's takedowns, and earned scores of 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28, then admitted afterward that it was difficult to compete against a rival he'd put on a pedestal and considered a role model.
"It's very hard to fight someone who is an idol of yours and someone you admire," he said.
Loser: Bantamweight Backtrack
6 of 13
Umar Nurmagomedov is the second-ranked contender behind new bantamweight champion Petr Yan, and he did nothing to compromise that status with a clear-cut unanimous decision over Deiveson Figueiredo in the preliminary card feature.
But he didn't do anything to advance his cause either.
The 30-year-old Russian was a plus-73 in total strikes, landed the fight's lone two takedowns, and had nearly five minutes of control time against the former two-time flyweight champion. Still, the fight drew more groans than cheers from the Vegas crowd and won't make the winner a no-brainer when it comes to Yan's next rival.
Officially, he won by 30-27 margins on all three official scorecards.
But he didn't make a believer of analyst Joe Rogan.
"This is not a performance that says 'This guy has got to fight for the title next,'" Rogan said. "In this insanely stacked division, you've got to have something that leaves people talking about this tomorrow. It didn't happen."
Loser: Middleweight Menace
7 of 13
The longer the fight went, the more questions arose.
Thanks to eight straight wins by finish—including seven in less than a round—it seemed a lock that Ateba Gautier would beat unheralded Andrey Pulyaev both quickly and decisively, and even more so after a knockdown on his first punch.
But Pulyaev got up, survived, and even presented the streaking Cameroonian middleweight with some difficulty in the form of left hands and body kicks, ultimately lasting the 15-minute distance and forcing Gautier to get his hand raised by unanimous decision rather than knockout.
Was Gautier, a 10-to-1 pre-fight favorite, less fearsome than he'd seemed through three UFC wins that had lasted less than seven minutes combined? Or is he a more well-rounded competitor than he'd been portrayed, given that he went the route without much difficulty and much decline in his work rate?
One judge had it 3-0 and the other two saw it 2-1 in the winner's favor, and the post-fight vibe was that rivals who'd been tentative about signing to fight him would be less intimidated by the prospect given a successful but hardly transcendent performance.
Gautier went three rounds in each of his first two career fights, winning a decision in 2021 and losing in 2022 before starting the streak of quick finishes.
"One thing's for sure," Rogan said, "the matchmakers won't have as hard a time getting guys to sign on the dotted line."
Loser: Competitive Combustion
8 of 13
Eventually, Charles Johnson will watch the tape and understand.
But in the immediate aftermath of the stoppage of his prelim bout with fellow ranked flyweight Alex Perez, the 35-year-old was dazed, confused, and angry.
After hitting the canvas face-first from a left hook, Johnson stumbled to his feet and dizzily pursued Perez, who'd already been pushed away by referee Jason Herzog and had begun climbing the fence to celebrate with his training teammates.
Herzog stepped between the fighters and was pushed aside by Johnson, who dismissed Perez, too, a few moments later when the winning fighter came over for a handshake. Johnson had finally calmed down by the time the official announcement was made, and he and Perez did connect briefly before Johnson left the cage.
Johnson had already been dropped by a left hook about 90 seconds into the round and never fully regained his equilibrium before Herzog pulled the plug at 3:16.
Cormier correctly had Herzog's back in the aftermath.
"Charles Johnson cannot get mad because Jason Herzog gave him every chance in the world to get back into that fight," Cormier said, "and he couldn't keep Alex Perez off of him."
Winner: Devastating Debut
9 of 13
Buffer may have gotten it wrong. But Ty Miller didn't.
The newbie shook off a faulty intro from the UFC's tuxedoed mouthpiece, then went to work and got a first-round finish in the card opener against Adam Fugitt.
Miller, a successful Golden Gloves competitor as an amateur boxer before earning a contract on Dana White's Contender Series, immediately set the tone with strong left jabs and follow-up straight right hands that rattled Fugitt on multiple occasions and created swelling under his right eye.
He shook off a spinning elbow from Fugitt that opened a bloody cut on his own forehead, then scored a pair of knockdowns in the final half minute and got the stoppage when yet another right prompted Fugitt to turn away toward the cage.
Referee Chris Tognoni intervened at 4:59 of the first, which was the exact time at which the second fight—a TKO win for heavyweight Josh Hokit over Denzel Freeman—was halted by Mark Smith.
"I wanted to throw a couple more knees, kicks, and elbows, but things kinda went sideways," Miller said. "I tried staying cool and breathing through it, and I pulled a finish out of it."
Loser: Light Heavyweight Lethargy
10 of 13
Just when it looked like the streak had ended, Nikita Krylov kept it going.
The 13th-ranked light heavyweight contender made it four stoppages in four fights when he dropped Modestas Bukauskas with a right hand and finished him with two follow-up strikes that prompted Marc Goddard's wave-off at 4:57 of Round 3.
The sudden end came after 14-plus minutes of desultory activity that had the crowd, which had been treated to three straight first-round stoppages, getting restless.
But Krylov ended a two-fight skid and perhaps rescued his UFC career when a one-two send his Lithuanian rival to the floor and set up the final two kill shots.
It was his first win since a submission of Ryan Spann on a Fight Night show in March 2023 that had been followed by first-round losses to Dominick Reyes and Bogdan Guskov.
"Krylov fought one of the best fights we've seen him fight in a really long time," Cormier said. "And to get a finish like that is just icing on the cake."
Winner: Turning the Page
11 of 13
A new era for UFC began at 5 p.m. ET when the UFC 324 prelims went live on Paramount+, officially ending both the promotion's run with ESPN as its television/streaming provider and the need for a pay-per-view purchase.
UK-born Kate Abdo, a longtime member of the CBS Sports family, took over as studio host alongside holdover panelists Michael Bisping and Dominick Cruz, who were accompanied, too, by former middleweight champ Chris Weidman.
Saturday's show also marked a new financial era for the fighters, whose performance bonus opportunities were doubled from $50,000 to $100,000 for two individual fighters and both fighters in the bout deemed "Fight of the Night." Additionally, a $25,000 award will be handed out to anyone scoring a finish by KO or submission.
Gaethje arrived Saturday night tied for seventh in all-time bonuses with 14.
Loser: Viral Vanishing Act
12 of 13
Cameron Smotherman became a known commodity in terrifying fashion on Friday in the aftermath of a successful weigh-in for a bantamweight bout with Ricky Turcios.
The 28-year-old made weight at 135.5 pounds but collapsed face-first moments after stepping off the scale and walking toward a stairway alongside the stage.
He was immediately tended to by medical personnel and taken to a nearby hospital, and the bout with Turcios was scrubbed from the show.
Smotherman took to Instagram on Saturday to let people know he was OK and that he'd be undergoing testing to determine the cause of the collapse, which he claimed followed a routine weight cut rather than a drastic one.
"I have some more tests and stuff to take in the coming weeks to get to the bottom of it," he said. "But to all the people saying I must have done a crazy cut or something like that, I cut very, very little weight."
Another bout between lightweights Michael Johnson and Alexander Hernandez was also pulled from the card on Saturday, though the UFC did not specify a reason.
Multiple outlets, including UK-based MMA reporter Rueben Carter, suggested unusual betting patterns were to blame for the move.
Full Card Results
13 of 13
Main Card
Justin Gaethje def. Paddy Pimblett by unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46)
Sean O'Malley def. Song Yadong by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Derrick Lewis by TKO (punches), 3:14, Round 2
Natalia Silva def. Rose Namajunas by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Jean Silva def. Arnold Allen by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary Card
Umar Nurmagomedov def. Deiveson Figueiredo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ateba Gautier def. Andrey Pulyaev by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Nikita Krylov def. Modestas Bukauskas by KO (punch), 4:57, Round 3
Alex Perez def. Charles Johnson by TKO (punch), 3:16, Round 1
Early Prelims
Josh Hokit def. Denzel Freeman by TKO (punches), 4:59, Round 1
Ty Miller def. Adam Fugitt by TKO (punches), 4:59, Round 1
.jpg?w=480)
.jpg?w=480 "NFL Draft Football")
.jpg?w=600 "Eagles Stole WR Lemon from Steelers")
.jpg?w=600 "Moment Eagles Picked Lemon 😲")
