Paddy Pimblett outlines his one-year plan ending with a fight against longtime rival

Following the announcement of his interim lightweight title fight, Paddy Pimblett has outlined his one-year plan, culminating in an undisputed title defense against his rival.

This past Thursday evening, UFC boss Dana White finally announced the full main card for UFC 324, which will be the first event of the promotion’s new broadcast deal with Paramount.

The card will be headlined by an interim lightweight title fight between longtime contender Justin Gaethje, and popular British star Paddy Pimblett.

The announcement came just hours after lightweight champion Ilia Topuria announced that he will be taking a hiatus from fighting so that he can focus on personal issues in his life.

Pimblett outlines his one-year plan which culminates in grudge match

Unfortunately, the main event wasn’t exactly received well by the UFC fanbase, and online it received quite a lot of criticism because of the positions of both fighters.

Not only that, but fans questioned the omission of number one ranked 155-pounder, Arman Tsarukyan, who picked up another incredible win last week at UFC Qatar.

However, not long after the official announcement, ‘The Baddy’ revealed his one-year plan, which culminates in a fight against Tsarukyan, who he has had a longtime feud with.

“Me and Gaethje now for the world title, you know, it’s interim so people are gonna say ‘Oh, it’s only the interim’, but I’m fighting for a world title, lad,” Pimblett told UFC Europe.

“People said I’d never be ranked, people said I’d never do this, I’d never do that, the goalposts always get moved. For me it’s just normal, once I finish Gaethje, it’s going to be ‘Oh, he was 37 (years old), he was retiring anyway…’

“2026 is gonna be the biggest year of my life. I am coming for that interim title, then I’ll be making it the undisputed title when I come and beat Ilia Topuria up and take the undisputed title.

“And little posh boy (Tsarukyan), if he manages to fight in that time because he likes to sit out and say he’s got a sore back. If little posh boy fights in that time and keeps his ranking, I’ll punch his head in as well,” he continued.

Tsarukyan’s reaction to missing out on interim title fight

Despite having only fought last Saturday, Tsarukyan didn’t suffer any damage and would have likely been able to make the quick turnaround to fight for the interim belt.

However, the promotion once again decided to snub him and are still punishing him for pulling out of his title fight against Islam Makhachev earlier this year.

And reacting to the fight news, Tsarukyan said: “Make it make sense.”