Justin Gaethje is confident he can “teach” Paddy Pimblett “some lessons” when the pair meet in the octagon on Saturday at UFC 324.
The lightweights will contest the interim title in Las Vegas, with the experienced 37-year-old Gaethje admitting he is the underdog.
Advertisement
Pimblett, 31, said he expects to finish Gaethje within three rounds and described the American as a “boxer with leg kicks”.
“I hope he’s overconfident in himself, just like I was when I was 30 years old, so I can teach him some lessons,” Gaethje told BBC Sport.
“This is 25 minutes in time. Nothing from the past, nothing from the future can determine it. It’s about being perfect. Who’s more perfect? Who makes mistakes? Who doesn’t make mistakes, who’s more prepared?
“I want to take Paddy into the fourth, fifth round. Really hurt him, and I’m looking forward to it.”
Advertisement
Pimblett is well known to have a knack of getting under the skin of his opponents and said this week he thinks he can retire Gaethje with a dominant performance on Saturday.
Gaethje, who held the interim lightweight UFC title in 2020, says he loves being the underdog and believes he fights better under pressure.
“The more I hear him talk, the more I want to hurt him,” Gaethje said.
“He’s weird. But in a good way. He goes left when you’re supposed to go right. And these are things that I’m going to have to figure out early.
“Great grappling, terrible wrestler. So we’ll see if you can take me down.”
Advertisement
Asked for a prediction, Gaethje says he envisions Pimblett “asleep”.
“I just have to turn his lights off for one second,” he added.
UFC 324 main card and UK timings
Live text commentary of UFC 324 will begin from 03:00 GMT on BBC Sport website and app.
Main card from 02:00 Sunday, 25 January:
-
Justin Gaethje v Paddy Pimblett (interim lightweight title – 5x5min rounds)
-
Sean O’Malley v Song Yadong (bantamweight – 3x5min rounds)
-
Waldo Cortes-Acosta v Derrick Lewis (heavyweight)
-
Natalia Silva v Rose Namajunas (flyweight)
-
Arnold Allen v Jean Silva (featherweight)
Preliminary card from 00:00 Sunday, 25 January:
-
Umar Nurmagomedov v Deiveson Figueiredo (bantamweight)
-
Nikita Krylov v Modestas Bukauskas (light-heavyweight)
-
Ateba Gautier v Andrey Pulyaev (middleweight)
