Fight Coverage
Paddy Pimblett | You’ll Never Walk Alone
Backed By The Same Team He Started His Career With, Paddy Pimblett Is Ready To Challenge For Championship Gold At UFC 324
When he isn’t training, fighting, or spending time with his family, Paddy Pimblett often be found following the fortunes of his beloved Liverpool FC.
The anthem sung by the Liverpool fans before every game is the most famous in sports. On Merseyside, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is more than just a song, it’s a promise that, no matter what life throws your way, the people around you have got your back. It’s a song that carries special meaning for a city that has stood together through tough times over the years.
That anthem, and the message it carries, applies equally well to Pimblett’s fighting career, and the 31-year-old is proud to be able to head into battle for his biggest fight to date with the same people who were there when he started his martial arts journey a decade and a half ago.
And when he sat down for a chat with UFC.com this week ahead of UFC 324, the timing of one of our first questions was somewhat serendipitous.
“I've been with the same team my whole career,” he explained.
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It's quite fitting that you've asked me that today, because I started training 16 years ago today, January 20, 2010. Exactly 16 years ago today, I walked in the gym and started training. The same gym I train at now, same coaches, same team mates, and we've done all this together.
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You can't do it on your own. Without them, I wouldn't be where I am. And you know, that's why it's going to feel even better for us to take this belt home, because we've been together since day one.”
When he walked into the Next Generation MMA gym as a scrawny teenager back in 2010, Pimblett already had an inner belief that he could achieve great things in mixed martial arts.
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Under the guidance of head coach Paul Rimmer, he has gradually worked his way up the ladder, capturing the Cage Warriors featherweight title en route to eventually fighting on the big stage with the UFC and earning a shot at championship gold this weekend in Las Vegas.
Paddy Pimblett Fighter Trailer | UFC 324
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Paddy Pimblett Fighter Trailer | UFC 324
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Rimmer has been more than just a coach to Pimblett and his teammates at Next Generation MMA, as the team has grown up almost as a family over the years.
“We call him Uncle Rimmer. He’s more like our second dad than our coach,” Pimblett grinned.
“He's been there every step of the way. He's been in my corner for every fight, and I wouldn't have it any other way. That's just the way we are.”
Now, after 15 years as a pro, Pimblett is in his fighting prime, and one of the most dangerous fighters on the planet at 155 pounds. His 7-0 run in the UFC took him to within striking distance of a shot at the undisputed lightweight title. But, with champion Ilia Topuria taking a hiatus from the sport for personal reasons, Pimblett now finds himself focusing on a different target – a former holder of both the symbolic BMF belt and the interim lightweight championship, Justin Gaethje.
The pair will do battle for the interim lightweight title in the main event of UFC 324 on Saturday night. For Pimblett, it’s a matchup with a fighter he recently described as “your favorite fighter’s favorite fighter” and a man for whom he clearly has plenty of respect. But, as he explained, when the cage door closes on fight night, all those pleasantries will go out the window.
“He's just another person in front of me,” he said.
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“I mean, he's a legend, don't get me wrong. I really like watching Justin Gaethje fight. But I feel bad, because he said that if he loses, he's going to retire. So, he's going to retire.”
The fight also marks the culmination of a journey Pimblett started when he first walked into Next Generation MMA as a kid with a dream. Now that dream is on the verge of becoming reality.
Paddy Pimblett Backstage Interview | UFC 2025 Seasonal Press Conference
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Paddy Pimblett Backstage Interview | UFC 2025 Seasonal Press Conference
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I always said, from when I was a kid, I was going to be a UFC world champion,” he said.
“I literally said it, since I first walked in the gym, was like, ‘I can do this.’ And then when I won my first amateur fight when I was 16, when I got my hand raised it was like, ‘There’s no feeling like this. This is going to be what I do for the rest of my life.’ And I was right.”
To win the title with the same team, and the same coach, he started his journey with would make victory on Saturday night even more special for Pimblett. He’s also determined to prove his doubters wrong, and his supporters right.
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“I started training when I was 15 and now I’m 31. So, for half my life, I’ve been in the gym every day, putting the work in,” he explained.
“This is just going to be validation for all the years of training and all the years of saying I am going to be a world champion.
I love proving people wrong. That's one of the things that drives me on and pushes me forward, proving people wrong and proving all the people who've backed me the whole time right. So it's gonna be more vindication. But you know, the goalposts will get moved, like they always do.”
He also told UFC.com during a 2022 interview that, despite the hype surrounding him at the time, he didn’t see himself fighting for the belt until much further down the line.
“I don’t think I’m going to fight for the belt until late ’25 or ’26, I’m in no rush,” he said, prophetically.
Fast-forward to present day, and Pimblett’s forecast from 2022 is looking spot-on. But, ahead of fight night in Las Vegas, he stopped short of giving a specific prediction for his title clash with Gaethje. Instead, he revealed that he has a plethora of different routes to victory, and said the right one will present itself on fight night.
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“Every night, when I lie in bed, I think of so many different ways that I'm going to finish him,” he said.
“The amount of different knockouts I've got in my head is actually scary. So many different ways I envision hitting him, but one of them's gonna come off and I'm gonna finish him and get my hand raised.”
UFC 324: Gaethje vs Pimblett took place live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 24, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!