Israel Adesanya was in awe while watching Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324.
Gaethje (27-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) and Pimblett (23-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC) went to war for five rounds with “The Highlight” emerging victorious in Saturday’s main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He became a two-time interim UFC lightweight champion.
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With the UFC kicking off a new era on Paramount, Adesanya says the UFC 324 headliner was shades of Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar in the Season 1 “Ultimate Fighter” finale in 2005, which was credited for saving the promotion from bankruptcy and making it mainstream. The fight, which Griffin won by decision, saw both fighters earn a contract and was later inducted into the UFC’s Hall of Fame in 2013.
“The main event was sick,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “This is perfect because the Spike TV deal, Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar showed out and made the whole world go, ‘What the f*ck.’ This is like part 2 I guess because it’s the new deal with Paramount, and then the main event f*cking showed out. I’m sure everyone watched this. A lot of eyes on this, and the main event delivered, which is what you want.”
Prior to the fight, Adesanya said he wanted to see Pimblett shine in deep waters. While Pimblett didn’t get his hand raised, Adesanya was impressed with his grit.
“Shoutout to Paddy. It was the only one in our parlay that didn’t hit, but for him to get his interim fight reminded me of my one,” Adesanya said. “I was like, man, you have to really put it in there and he went. He put it in, and he managed to stay up, so he proved that Scousers don’t get knocked out.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Israel Adesanya compares UFC 324 main event to Hall of Fame fight
