This wasn’t the way the UFC wanted to debut on Paramount+, as they launch a new seven-year, $7.7 billion dollar (in the U.S. alone) broadcast deal with this Saturday’s UFC 324.
Make no mistake, UFC 324 is a very good card. It should have been a great card, however, and might have been were it not for the loss of its co-main event.
Under normal circumstances, a co-main event falling through wouldn’t matter all that much. When your co-main event is what amounts to a super-fight between women’s MMA GOAT Amanda Nunes, returning from retirement, and current UFC women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison, well that’s a different story.
Nunes vs. Harrison has been years in the making and included all the big plot points, if you will, to make the fight massive. Former teammates, until Nunes left American Top Team. A two-time Olympic gold medalist in Harrison. The women’s fighting GOAT in Nunes. The absolute best fighting the absolute best, with that statement for once not being hyperbole bandied about by the UFC’s marketing machine.
And so fight fans are left with Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett for the UFC interim lightweight championship. It was always the UFC 324 main event, and it’s a very good fight. A last chance for Gaethje, a first title opportunity for Pimblett. No doubt it will be a very good fight (ever see a boring Justin Gaethje fight? You’d have a better chance of spotting Bigfoot), but at the same time, the card just feels a little bit off as a giant coming out party.
Ahead of UFC 324, tune in for the event’s pre-fight press conference. That goes down on Thursday, January 22, 2026, starting at 8PM ET, 5PM PT. Check it out above!
