UFC 324 Preview Show: How Will Justin Gaethje And Paddy Pimblett Kick Off The Paramount Era?

The UFC is back, and not only is it the start of 2026, it’s the start of a new era.

On Saturday, UFC 324 goes down at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, headlined by an interim lightweight title fight between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett. The card is not just the first of 2026, but the first of the UFC’s new broadcast deal with Paramount, including a new, earlier start time. Will Gaethje and Pimblett put the UFC’s best foot forward for their new deal? And what about the rest of the card?

Ahead of Saturday’s big event, MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew and Alexander K. Lee preview UFC 324 and interim title fight between Gaethje and Pimblett, and what it means for the lightweight division as a whole. Additionally, Meshew and Lee discuss the co-main event bout between Sean O’Malley and Song Yadong and whether O’Malley is fighting for a title shot, the stakes in the feature bout between Waldo Cortes-Acosta and Derrick Lewis, the title eliminator bout between Natalia Silva and Rose Namajunas, answer fan questions, and more.

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