UFC 324 may be under two months away as of this writing, but we now know who’s going to be fighting in Las Vegas for the first UFC event of the Paramount Plus era on Jan. 24. The event will be the first of two consecutive flagship shows by the promotion in the new year’s first month.
One week after the T-Mobile Arena event takes place, the second flagship event of 2026 will take place with UFC 325 penciled in for Jan. 31. That weekend’s card will be originating from Sydney, Australia. Due to the time difference between Australia and North America, it’ll already be Feb. 1 in Sydney by the time the fights begin that night.
One takeaway from the reveal of the UFC 324 card on Jan. 24 will be the start time of the main card. Action from T-Mobile Arena that winter’s night on the main card will begin at 9 pm ET/ 6 pm PT on Paramount Plus, an hour before the usual 10 pm ET start UFC fans are currently accustomed to seeing on a fight night for a flagship card.
Dana White Makes NFL Today Appearance to Announce Title Fight Twin-Bill at UFC 324
During halftime of the Thanksgiving Day game matching the Kansas City Chiefs with the Dallas Cowboys on CBS Sports, The NFL Today’s James Brown teed up a special appearance from UFC CEO Dana White. After thanking JB, White announced a pair of entertaining title fights currently on the schedule for Jan 24.
At the top of the bill for UFC 324 will be the contest for the UFC Interim Lightweight Championship between No. 4 contender Justin Gaethje (26-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC,) in his 15th Octagon appearance, and No. 5 contender Paddy Pimblett (22-3 MMA, 7-0 UFC.) This interim title fight comes about after permanent UFC Lightweight Champion Ilia Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) revealed that he would not be seeking a defense of the strap at 155 lbs in the first three months of 2026 due to a hiatus from competition for personal reasons.
In the co-main event of UFC 324, the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship will be at stake. Current 135-lb titleholder Kayla Harrison (19-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) will defend her strap against challenger Amanda Nunes (23-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC) for the co-headlining bout of the initial card on Paramount Plus, which secured a $7.7 billion (USD) contract over the next seven years to run UFC events in the United States effective in 2026 this past August.
Dana White Bringing Fireworks on Paramount Plus Already With UFC 324 Announcement
Although Thanksgiving is a day marked by turkey dinners with all the trimmings and a delicious pumpkin pie, the calendar may very well have read July 4 in Dana White’s room when he made the announcement at halftime on The NFL Today earlier this evening.
White and his staff aren’t messing around when it comes to this deal. Not only will Paramount Plus subscribers no longer need to fork over an $80 fee to access these marquee events beginning in the new year, there also getting some pretty massive fights, at least on paper.
Paddy Pimblett is a household name when it comes to UFC fighters. Ever since he joined the promotion’s active roster in September of 2021, he hasn’t missed a beat. On Jan. 24, the Scouser gets a shot at a belt in the No. 1 MMA promotion in the world against a formidable adversary in Justin Gaethje.
UFC 324 Co-Main Event Equally Exciting, as is Return of Surging Heavyweight
Realistically, one could have made a case for either the interim lightweight championship or the women’s bantamweight championship being the headliner of UFC 324, because the bantamweight fight is a firecracker in its own right. Harrison is a former PFL champion and Olympian in Judo.
Within minutes of claiming the belt this past spring, Harrison issued a challenge to Amanda Nunes, who was sitting in the crowd at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ to set up the Jan. 24 clash. Already, the excitement is building for this contest.
If the two title fights weren’t enough, No. 5 heavyweight contender Waldo Cortes-Acosta (16-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC), who fought five times in 2025, will make his 2026 debut against Derrick Lewis (29-12, 1 NC MMA, 20-10 UFC) in UFC 324.
Final Thoughts
Simply put, this is an amazing card that Dana White and his team have put together. Jan. 24 can’t come soon enough. Even better is the fact that this show will be starting an hour earlier and Eastern Time Zone-based fans don’t need to stay up past 1 am local time to watch it.
A 6 pm ET start for the early prelims equated to a 10 pm ET start for the main card. Especially if said fans have work obligations the day after, that’s a big ask.
With the 5 pm ET start time for the early prelims and 9 pm ET start for the main card, a fan living in the Eastern Time Zone can get to bed at just past midnight and have a restful sleep before going into work on Sunday.
