UFC 324 Recap: Paddy vs Gaethje

The Paramount+ era has officially begun for the UFC.

Doing away with the PPV model is long overdue. 

$100 to watch 5 fights was always a ripoff. Besides, in the digital age anyone who wants to watch something for free will just find a bootleg stream anyway. I'm not sure what kind of money and resources the UFC put into fighting PPV piracy, but I doubt it was free.

Paramount+ is like $9 a month, or $90 a year. If you're an avid UFC fan, and the UFC will put out quality cards every week, that's not a bad deal. 

Speaking of quality, if you didn't watch it, the Paddy vs Gaethje fight was a real banger. It'll be a fight of the year candidate come December. 

Pimblett came in as a 2-to-1 favorite. I think most people thought Paddy would walk through an aging Gaethje, mostly based on what Pimblett did to Chandler. But he didn't. It was a very close, violent and entertaining fight. 

If you have a chance to rewatch the fight, you should.

Gaethje is aging (37), and has been in a ton of wars. I wonder how "punch drunk" he will be a decade from now. 

Have you heard Chuck Liddell talk recently? I think he might be the poster child for retired fighters staying retired. Luke Rockhold, I'm talking to you.

Nonetheless, Gaethje was in great shape and took it to the younger Englishman. 

Paddy battered Gaethje's with 48 body shots and 25 legs kicks, but they never seemed to take a toll on Justin later in the fight like I thought they would. That was surprising to me.

I remember when Paddy first came on the scene, I couldn't stand him and thought he was way overrated. I thought he lost the fight with Jared Gordon.

I think Pimblett has proven to be quite a bit better than everyone expected.

One has to wonder what the future holds for Gaethje as the interim champion. I didn't think he would beat Paddy. I thought he would look old. But, he obviously has quite a bit left in the tank. That being said, I just don't see him beating Ilia or Arman. 

But he was a 2-to-1 dog to Pimblett. And I think he is 8-3 as the underdog. 

I'm not a gambler, but if I was I wouldn't bet against Gaethje against either of them. In fact, the oddmakers will probably have Gaethje at least a 3-to-1 dog against either of those two. 

I'll leave you with this advice: if Justin fights Ilia or Arman on the White House card and is a big dog (at least 3-to-1), put a few shekels on Gaethje. When you win big, don't forget me. My BTC address is in the sidebar :)