It’s a new year, and a new era for the UFC, starting with UFC 324 this Saturday— and a new year for our staff picks as well!
How did we do last year? Well, everyone ended up batting over .500, so there’s that. But it’s a clean slate regardless, and an interesting card to start the year, with a number of old guard versus new match-ups to be found.
That includes the main event. It seems like just yesterday that WSOF lightweight champ Justin Gaethje, that promotion’s biggest star, showed up in the UFC. In reality, it was nearly nine years ago, and Gaethje has been at the top of the division ever since. He’s won an interim title before, opposite Tony Ferguson in 2020, and infamously threw it on the ground. He’s come up short twice in attempts to earn the undisputed UFC lightweight championship, but did lay claim to the “BMF” title for a while, defeating Dustin Poirier to hold that belt.
What Gaethje truly wants is one last run at an undisputed title, and that starts with Paddy Pimblett on Saturday night. Pimblett, once a Cage Warriors star, has taken the UFC by storm, rising quickly up the rankings in terms of both opponents, and star power. Paddy “The Baddy” has been electrifying and entertaining since day one, but though he’s faced the likes of King Green, Tony Ferguson, and Michael Chandler, Gaethje is a different beast (one who has defeated both Ferguson and Chandler, for that matter).
The slate is clean, and our picks are in for the first big event of 2026, UFC 324!
| Writer / Fight | Allen vs. Silva | Silva vs. Namajunas | Cortes-Acosta vs. Lewis | O'Malley vs. Yadong | Gaethje vs. Pimblett |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cade Morehouse |  |  |  |  |  |
| Jay Anderson | | |  | | |
| Eddie Law | | | | |  |
| Brett Cagle | | | | | |
| Patrick Danna | | | | | |
| Mathis Desjardins | | | | | |
| Chris Prawdzik | | | | | |
| Alex Behunin |  | | | | |
Well, we clearly see a changing of the guard happening on Saturday. And a couple of the landslide picks may raise eyebrows. No one is siding with featherweight contender Arnold Allen against Jean Silva (actually, one late response means someone is, but still). That, despite Silva coming off a loss (a finish even) at the hands of Diego Lopes last September.
Likewise, it seems Natalia Silva is a lock against former women’s strawweight champ “Thug” Rose Namajunas, in their flyweight fight— one that could prove to be a title eliminator.
Song Yadong? He’s apparently the Rodney Dangerfield of China, getting absolutely no respect against Sean O’Malley. Not a single writer responding selected Yadong to get the better of the former champion.
Derrick Lewis versus Waldo Cortes-Acosta was a little more divided, meanwhile. Lewis holds a slight edge there. And the main event? Perhaps surprisingly, it’s Pimblett getting the nod, by a six to two margin.
