“Paddy Pimblett says he’d prefer the Justin Gaethje rematch over a fight with ilia Topuria 😳,” Spinnin Backfist wrote on X on Thursday, sharing a clip that started the latest round of Pimblett rematch talk.
By Friday the story had grown. The Independent, Yahoo Sports and NDTV Sports all ran pieces saying Pimblett had laid out a major tactical change for a second fight with Gaethje. NDTV’s headline described it as a “Brutal 10-Second Plan.” The headlines are what’s available here, and the specifics of the adjustment aren’t detailed in what I’ve seen. So treat this as a fighter telling everyone he has a fix, without the fix itself on the table yet.
The backstory is simple. Pimblett (24-4) met Gaethje for the interim UFC lightweight title at UFC 324 on Jan. 24, 2026, and lost a unanimous decision. That ended a UFC run that included a third-round TKO of Michael Chandler at UFC 314 and a first-round triangle on King Green at UFC 304. The Liverpool fighter, who trains at Next Generation MMA, sits No. 6 at lightweight in the Knockout Daily rankings and last fought on July 11.
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Gaethje (28-5) holds the UFC lightweight title now, and at 37 he became the oldest man to win it. He last fought on June 14. He doesn’t sound like a guy losing sleep over a sequel. In a clip Championship Rounds posted from Barstool Sports, Gaethje talked to a fan who called himself a Pimblett fan and didn’t know about the January result. “I fought him in January, I beat him up. I dog walked that motherf*cker,” Gaethje said.
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There’s also the retirement chatter, and it’s affecting who might get the next shot at 155. Alexander Volkanovski told Ariel Helwani he’d vacate featherweight and fight Arman Tsarukyan for the lightweight belt if Gaethje retires. “If Gaethje doesn’t wanna [fight Arman], I’ll do it. That excites me,” Volkanovski said.
I have a rule about rematches. Telling the press you’ve solved a guy who already beat you over five rounds is free, and the price only shows up on fight night. Pimblett picking Gaethje over Topuria makes sense to me as matchmaking self-interest, since he’s already shared a cage with one of them. The problem is the line. Gaethje has Tsarukyan waiting, Volkanovski volunteering, and a decision win over Pimblett already on his record. A No. 6 contender asking for a rematch with a champion who calls their first fight a dog walk has to wait his turn behind those names, whatever his new plan is.
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