Outside Source
With lightweight champion Topuria taking a short hiatus from competition, Gaethje fought Paddy Pimblett for the interim lightweight title in the main event at UFC 324 on Saturday in Las Vegas. Gaethje came out all guns blazing for a brutal war, which is his forte. While Pimblett showed immense heart in going the distance, Gaethje left him visibly damaged to earn a unanimous decision win after five rounds.
Gaethje (27-5) is now expected to fight Topuria (17-0) in a lightweight title unifier. However, Whittaker believes the Gaethje who beat Pimblett (23-4) won’t get past Topuria. While Gaethje’s win over Pimblett was entertaining violence, it was more of a slugfest than a technical masterclass. Meanwhile, Whittaker believes Topuria’s striking is levels above everyone in the UFC. Considering Topuria also has a grappling background, Whittaker believes Gaethje needs to make significant changes to his camp before fighting “El Matador.” However, Whittaker also notes that Gaethje’s game plan for UFC 324 might have been custom-made for Pimblett.
Leagues Above the Competition
“Ilia’s striking is leagues above everybody in the UFC,” Whittaker said on the “MMA Arcade” podcast. “The wrestling and jiu-jitsu are there as well. His timing, his instinct to fire off, his counterattacks, he’ll make you pay for every step you take. It’s a hard fight. Things have got to change in Gaethje’s camp to make the fight competitive. The Gaethje that fought Paddy won’t beat Ilia right now. But that’s not saying that we’ll see that Gaethje when he fights Ilia.”
Topuria won the featherweight title against Alexander Volkanovski and defended it by knocking out Max Holloway, the last man to beat Gaethje. The undefeated Georgian-Spaniard then moved up to lightweight and won the vacant title by knocking out Charles Oliveira, who also beat Gaethje back in 2022.
“The Gaethje that fought Paddy won’t beat Ilia right now.” – Robert Whittaker
“Ilia’s striking is leagues above everybody in the UFC. The wrestling and jiu-jitsu are there as well. His timing, his instinct to fire off, his counterattacks – he’ll make you pay for every step you… pic.twitter.com/Z8V0Um75Rm
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) January 25, 2026
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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