At long last, the UFC’s first fight week with its new Paramount+ broadcast partner has arrived.
After a six-week break, at UFC 324, the promotion will host its first live event in the Paramount+ broadcast era after seven years with ESPN. And for the first time, a “numbered event” won’t be on pay-per-view for the U.S. audience.
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UFC 324 takes place Jan. 24 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and was set to feature a pair of title fights until the co-main event fell off last week. It also will have a new main card start time of an hour earlier compared to past numbered events.
In the headliner, Paddy Pimblett (23-3 MMA, 7-0 UFC) meets Justin Gaethje (26-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) for the interim lightweight title. Champion Ilia Topuria is taking time off for personal reasons (very public personal reasons at this point), and former interim champ Gaethje threatened to retire if he wasn’t given a title shot next. By making an interim belt, the UFC technically satisfied the demands of the Ali Abdelaziz-managed fighter.
The fight that should have been the main event was set to see women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison (19-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) welcome UFC Hall of Famer Amanda Nunes (23-5 MMA, 16-2 UFC) out of retirement after nearly three years. Nunes, a former two-division champ at 135 pounds and featherweight, is considered the greatest women’s fighter in MMA history, but two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time PFL $1 million winner Harrison was a 2-1 betting favorite until she withdrew with an injury.
Check out the new promo hype video for UFC 324 on Paramount+ above.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 324 promo hypes Paramount+ era, Pimblett-Gaethje interim belt
