Paddy Pimblett is keeping his head held high after losing his first opportunity for a piece of UFC gold.
In the main event of UFC 324 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Pimblett (23-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC) came up short against Justin Gaethje in a Fight of the Night battle for the interim lightweight title.
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It was a grueling fight for Pimblett, who survived a few near-finishes but never stopped fighting back. The judges scored the fight 48-47, 49-46, and 49-46 in favor of Gaethje, crowning him interim champion for the second time. Immediately after the fight, Pimblett took the loss in stride.
A few days after the dust has settled, Pimblett released a statement on Instagram, vowing to work his way back to another title shot, and supported Gaethje’s efforts to unify the title in his future bout against Ilia Topuria.
Check out Pimblett’s full statement below:
“Hope everyone enjoyed my fight just as much as I did,” Pimblett wrote on Instagram. “Want to thank everyone that came to support and everyone watching at home ❤️. I’m all good no injuries went into the fight feeling amazing had a great camp and an easy weight cut no excuses the better man won on the night @justin_gaethje congratulations brother it was an honour to share the cage with such a legend go get that undisputed title ur career deserves it 👊🏻 hopefully we can run it back for the undisputed because I still know it’s in my destiny to win that gold! @ufc thank you for the opportunity yous all know I’ll be back for that belt in the near future 👌🏻”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Paddy Pimblett after UFC 324 loss: ‘I’ll be back for that belt’
