It’s been six weeks since UFC fans have gotten their fix, and, really, one question still lingers:
How hype are you for UFC 324?
On paper, this Saturday’s effort has all the makings of a fine card: Two all-action lightweights who know how to sell a fight in the main event, a former UFC champion likely competing for another title shot in the co-main, and a slew of would-be contenders, reliable veterans, and recognizable names filling out the undercard.
But there are no undisputed titles on the line — with Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett battling for interim lightweight champion status and bantamweight queen Kayla Harrison postponing her duel with returning legend Amanda Nunes due to neck surgery — and the card lacks a certain pizazz, especially considering this is the UFC’s first numbered event of 2026 and the kickoff of its partnership with Paramount.
So given that, it’s fair to ask if the UFC has put its best foot forward. Here to answer that question is the MMA Fighting panel of Alexander K. Lee, Mike Heck, and Jed Meshew, who dug into the storylines surrounding Saturday’s show.
1. Is this one of the UFC’s weaker January kickoff efforts?
Lee: Let’s get scientific with it by taking a look back at recent January pay-per-views.
- 2025 – UFC 311: We didn’t get Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan 2 (will we ever?), but Makhachev still took care of business in the main event, and Merab Dvalishvili began his memorable 2025 campaign with a thrilling win over Umar Nurmagomedov
- 2024 – UFC 297: Sean Strickland defended the middleweight title against Dricus du Plessis, and Raquel Pennington battled Mayra Bueno Silva for a vacant bantamweight belt. I was on site for this, and the vibes were mid
- 2023 – UFC 283: Glover Teixeira fought Jamahal Hill in yet another vacant light heavyweight title fight, and the Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno tetralogy was settled. Again, kind of mid, even for the hardcores
- 2022 – UFC 270: Now we’re talking. Heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou fought Ciryl Gane in what would turn out to be Ngannou’s last UFC fight, and Figgy-Moreno 3 happened. This one felt big at the time
- 2021 – UFC 257 and 2020 – UFC 246: Conor McGregor headlined both of these shows, so regardless of card depth, he brought a ton of hype with him as always
Two things I can say with confidence: 1) The UFC’s January efforts tend to be somewhat structurally uneven (“Hey, who can we call that won’t be hungover from the holidays?”) and 2) if we’re looking at the cards top to bottom. UFC 324 actually compares favorably to the events listed above. Along with the main event, 13 ranked fighters are scheduled, and four fights could legitimately produce the next title challenger in their respective divisions (you better believe I’m including Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Derrick Lewis!).
So I actually consider UFC 324 to be a relatively strong calendar-starter, but losing Harrison vs. Nunes definitely hurt.
Heck: As far as “numbered events” go, I have UFC 324, at least on paper, as either No. 1 or 2 of the post-COVID era in terms of card quality. In fact, the last pre-era January UFC pay-per-view was UFC 246 headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone, and that was a BAD card outside of McGregor’s return.
To talk about other things from these past January cards that My Best Friend mentioned, we know about the main event of UFC 257, but care to take a guess what the featured bout of UFC 257 was? I’ll tell you, Jessica Eye vs. Joanne Wood. Did you know Andrew Sanchez was on the main card of a pay-per-view? Well, he was on that same card and got knocked out by Makhmud Muradov.
UFC 270 did give us the UFC debut of Michael Morales, who just massacred poor Trevin Giles. UFC 283 had two title fights and not much else. UFC 297 was BAD BAD outside of the main event being super competitive, and UFC 311 was really good, despite losing Tsarukyan, which has to dock it points.
To me, it’s either UFC 311 or Saturday’s card as being the best in total card quality for a January numbered-event in a long time, even without Harrison vs. Nunes.
Meshew: While my compatriots decided to defend UFC 324 with “facts” and “data,” I know the truth, and the truth is that feelings don’t care about your facts (at least, I think that’s how the saying goes). Is UFC 324 good? Yes! In fact, it’s pretty darn good!
UFC 324 is the first event of the next era of MMA — I understand that the UFC doesn’t own MMA, but it kind of does, in a practical sense. Think of it like a new job. You’re starting at a new company, and you want to put your best foot forward out of the gate, because first impressions are lasting ones. And while UFC 324 might not be the equivalent of a new hire coming in a revolutionizing the workplace, it is akin to you starting a job and immediately bringing in a new client.
And that’s the goal for this card. UFC 324 is not a card built for hardcore fans. Hardcore fans are a captive audience, and they haven’t had big fights in six weeks; they will be fine. This is a card built to showcase to non-MMA fans how exciting the sport can be. And while Harrison-Nunes is a great fight, there’s even a case that it leaving this event is better for the overall vision from the promotion.
On Saturday night, a whole swath of new people are going to tune into the UFC because there’s no longer a PPV paywall in the way. And when they tune in, they’ll see Ateba Gautier merc a dude, or Sean O’Malley and Song Yadong go to war, or the most exciting fighter in the history of the sport challenge for a belt. That’s how you bring new fans into the sport. And while this might not be the most meritorious or “best” card ever assembled for those looking for the “sport” in all of this, I would bet you 10-to-1 that a vast majority of people will have a good time watching this.
2. Can the main event winner make a case to be the true No. 1 lightweight?
Lee: For numerous reasons, no.
If Ilia Topuria comes back anytime in the next six months, he’s still the undisputed champion. Even if he doesn’t, Gaethje or Pimblett might have to defend an interim title until he gets back. And even if one of them is promoted to undisputed status, I can tell you I won’t be pushing either to the No. 1 spot on my MMA Fighting Rankings ballot.
Also, Islam Makhachev still exists, and if he ever decides to come back to 155, he’s a -1000 favorite over Gaethje or Pimblett.
Not only will they not have a case to be the true No. 1 lightweight, but they won’t have a case to be the true No. 2 lightweight either. Why? Because Ilia Topuria and Arman Tsarukyan are still on the roster.
Heck, it would be hard to make a case for No. 3 with Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira — who both hold stoppage wins over Gaethje — getting ready to fight for the BMF belt at UFC 327.
I don’t say these things as disrespect towards either fighter; it’s just that they compete in the best and toughest division in the sport. Gaethje is an all-timer when it comes to must-see TV, and this is his last chance at challenging for a belt, and it could be his last fight ever. Pimblett has certainly outkicked his initial coverage. “The Paddy” continues to get better and better each time he competes, and if one of these two guys will be able to make that case in the future of being the No. 1 lightweight, it’s Pimblett since he has the benefit of time. As far as the matchup goes, this is 1,000 percent the fight to make, and while leaving Tsarukyan out of this championship conversation is beyond ridiculous, these two will put on a super compelling and fun fight to cap off UFC 324. But neither of these guys is beating Tsarukyan, so I can’t give either the top spot even if I wanted to.
Meshew: Unfortunately, both of my companions are wrong on this one. The question wasn’t will the winner on Saturday be the No. 1 lightweight, it’s whether they’d have a case. And I think it’s hard to argue at least one of them wouldn’t be in the mix.
Here’s the truth of lightweight that no one seems to care about: there isn’t a real champion right now. Islam Makhachev vacated the title, and he’s not coming back. Throughout the history of combat sports, when a champion leaves a division (or retires), the only real way to determine who is the justified champion is for the next two top contenders to battle it out. Well, that hasn’t happened at lightweight.
Ilia Topuria ran over Charles Oliveira, and that’s an impressive win. But that’s his only meaningful lightweight win, and Oliveira wasn’t the No. 1 contender at the time, so how can he undisputably claim to be the No. 1 lightweight? He can’t. Arman Tsarukyan actually has the best case for being the No. 1 lightweight in the world, given he has a lot of great wins in the division, but he also hasn’t beaten the No. 2 guy in the world, so you can undisputably claim he is either.
So, in the absence of a clear-cut No. 1, everything becomes a debate. If Gaethje beats Pimblett, he doesn’t really have a great case for the title — given his losses to Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira — but if Paddy does the thing? Man’s never lost in the UFC. You might think he would lose to either Arman or Ilia (I agree), but this isn’t the Ultimate Speculation Championship. That’s why we have the fights, and if Pimblett beats Gaethje, he can absolutely at least make a case for being the No. 1 lightweight in the world.
3. What’s your favorite matchup outside of the main event?
Lee: Give me Arnold Allen vs. Jean Silva because, frankly, I have no f’ing clue what’s going to happen in this fight.
Silva is at a crossroads after losing to Diego Lopes and possibly losing out on a title shot against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 325 if we’re to understand the MMA Math. A ridiculously compelling fight finisher, he takes on another top contender in Arnold Allen, and we’re about to get closer to knowing whether Silva is truly destined for championship greatness or if he’s about to spend the next few years winning some, losing some, and just generally being a bonus-chasing maniac.
Allen needs a win just as much if he’s serious about claiming a belt someday. Inactivity and a string of decision wins have slowed his progress, and in the two biggest fights of his career against Max Holloway and Movsar Evloev, he couldn’t do quite enough to get over the hump. Silva still has plenty of hype around him despite his loss, so this is Allen’s opportunity to steal that thunder. Consider me invested.
Heck: I mean, everyone already knows it’s Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Derrick Lewis. I don’t think I need to explain myself too much to anybody who has watched our programming over the past few years.
I still maintain to this day that Derrick Lewis should’ve been the guy to face Tom Aspinall in his first title defense. It would’ve been super fun, and we certainly would be in a different position looking at the heavyweight division right now. But I digress. Lewis, just days before turning 41, seems to be all-in here. He’s in incredible shape and trying to get one last crack at gold.
Standing in front of him is “Salsa Boy,” who broke out in a huge way in 2025, and ended the year with a knockout win over a ranked guy on just days’ notice after flying across the damn world to do it. This fight could absolutely determine a title challenger – whether it’s against Aspinall, or if the UFC goes with an interim route – and it will likely be fun as hell until it’s over.
Meshew: This is the coward’s way out, but I’m going with the co-main event between Sean O’Malley and Song Yadong. That fight rocks.
O’Malley has entered this weird zone of MMA where his fights are almost beside the point now. He is a narrative who sometimes fights people. And since his last two fights have been underwhelming losses, people forget that underneath it all, O’Malley is a very good, very exciting fighter. After he demolished Chito Vera in their rematch, I thought O’Malley might be ascending, only to get hit with the Merab Reality Check. But now he’s fighting someone not named Merab Dvalishvili, and so I expect to see full “Suga” on display.
But is that enough to beat the ascending Song Yadong? Song has fought nothing but hitters the last few years, and he’s continuing to improve every time we see him. He’s a well-rounded, explosive athlete, and he’s just now entering his prime years. At the minimum, he’s going to give O’Malley a hard time, and it’s very possible he wins. This is a perfect matchup of talent and excitement.
In fact, the only negative to this fight is that if O’Malley wins, there’s a realistic chance he gets another title shot. That would be completely undeserved, but we’re just going to have to come to grips with “deserve” being a meaningless word in the modern UFC. And so once I set that aside, there’s not another fight I’m looking forward to more than this one this weekend.
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