Brett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: “Chuck and Tito,” which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.
An interim lightweight title fight between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett will headline UFC 324 on Jan. 24 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, UFC CEO Dana White announced Thursday.
The event will mark the first of the UFC’s new domestic broadcast deal with Paramount+, and feature a main card start time of 9 p.m. ET. White broke the news during Thursday’s NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys. Ilia Topuria (17-0) will remain the UFC’s undisputed lightweight champion, but the promotion opted to implement an interim title in January, after the 28-year-old announced he needed time off for personal reasons.
“I won’t be fighting in the first quarter of next year,” Topuria wrote on X. “I’m going through a difficult moment in my personal life. I want to focus on my children and resolve this situation as soon as possible. I don’t want to hold up the division. The UFC will make the matchups needed, and as soon as the matters are resolved I’ll let the UFC know I’m ready to begin my return.”
Gaethje (26-5) hasn’t fought since a decision win against Rafael Fiziev in March. The 37-year-old had said he would likely retire from MMA, had the UFC not booked him a title fight in his next appearance. Gaethje earned a lightweight title shot by knocking out Dustin Poirier in 2023, but risked it in 2024 when the company needed a marquee bout for UFC 300. Gaethje accepted a BMF bout against Max Holloway and suffered a fifth-round knockout loss.
Fighting out of Denver, Gaethje won an interim championship by knocking out Tony Ferguson in 2020. He came up short in a bid to unify the titles against Khabib Nurmagomedov later that year.
Pimblett (23-3) has been one of the fastest-rising stars in the sport since he signed with the UFC in 2021. The 30-year-old native of Liverpool is 7-0 inside the Octagon with signature wins over Ferguson and Michael Chandler.
According to White, the winner of the interim title is expected to face Topuria in a unification bout later this year.
In the UFC 324 co-main event, women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison (19-1) will defend her title against former two-weight champion Amanda Nunes (23-5), who is coming out of retirement to make her first appearance since June 2023.
Read more on ESPN.com (Insider)
