Paddy Pimblett Thinks He Wasn't Strong Enough in UFC 324 Clash

Paddy Pimblett (23-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC) will be doing something that he hasn't done before when he next enters the Octagon. Back on Jan. 24, the UFC's 2026 schedule of events began with UFC 324 inside T-Mobile Arena in the promotion's homebase of Enterprise, NV.

The main event of the evening saw the UFC Interim Lightweight Championship at stake. Pimblett, then the No. 5 contender at 155 lbs, was attempting to secure lightweight gold against Justin Gaethje (27-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC,) who sat at No. 4 in the rankings ahead of the card.

This contest lasted the full 25 minutes and Pimblett came out on the losing end of the scorecard for the first time in his UFC tenure. In the aftermath of his first UFC defeat, "The Baddy" mentioned that he'd be targeting a return to competition sometime in the summer.

Paddy Pimblett Films Training Camp Footage in Preparation for Return

Although no concrete date or opponent has been set for his next fight, it looks like Paddy Pimblett is right on track to compete again this summer. Recently, he took to YouTube to let his fans in on his initial training sessions ahead of his fight.

In the video, he also discussed what went wrong on that fateful January evening in Sin City.

"To be honest, with the last fight, I think a bit of my ego got in the way," he said of the contest against Justin Gaethje. "I wanted to knock him out. I wanted to strike with him and show everyone I could strike with him. I wanted a war. When you're trying to take him down in the fifth round after he bludgeoned you at the end of the second it's quite hard."

Pimblett mentioned that ahead of his next contest inside the fabled Octagon, there will be some changes made to his tactics. He believes that these alterations will be key in helping him return to victory lane.

" back to fight IQ," he said, "back to the gameplan and not just swinging recklessly."

Paddy Pimblett Describes Training Camp

As previously mentioned, Paddy Pimblett recently returned to training camp. He's hopeful to be back for this year's International Fight Week card, UFC 329 on the second weekend of July from the very same T-Mobile Arena in Enterprise where his last fight took place.

At the moment, should Pimblett make an appearance on UFC 329, he has 74 days between now and the night of the fight. He mentioned what his training camp has been like so far.

"First session to camp," he said. "We've still got a long time to go. Got like, 12 weeks, but it's better to get started early and start the diet early and that's what we're doing."

Paddy Pimblett Opens Up on Justin Gaethje's Next Fight vs. Ilia Topuria in Podcast Interview With Wayne Rooney

Justin Gaethje's next fight will take place on The White House grounds on June 14 at UFC Freedom 250. The seven-fight card in Washington, DC is part of the Freedom 250 celebrations commemorating the 250th birthday of the United States of America on July 4.

On the rare Sunday night card for the UFC, Gaethje will face off against Ilia Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) in a unification battle for the UFC Lightweight Championship during the UFC Freedom 250 main event. Pimblett was a guest of former Manchester United FC star Wayne Rooney in a recent episode of his self-titled podcast, The Wayne Rooney Show.

He gave his thoughts on the fight against Gaethje and on the Topuria vs. Gaethje tilt in mid-June.

"I thought we won, lad," Pimblett told Rooney. "I hope he beats Ilia, so I can fight him again. That's what I'm hoping for."

Even Wayne Rooney himself couldn't help but offer his two cents on the fight that was in January.

"I thought it was a good fight," Rooney said. "It could have went either way, I thought. It'd be nice to see it happen again."