Paddy Pimblett can put himself directly back in title contention with a win over Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 329, especially after engaging in a five-round war with future lightweight champion Justin Gaethje back in January.
Despite the loss, Pimblett proved he could hang with the best of the best at 155 pounds and considering he survived 25 minutes with Gaethje while Ilia Topuria couldn’t make it past the fourth round just adds another checkmark in his column. That said, Pimblett has openly stated
that he knows it’s probably going to take a win on Saturday and at least one more before the UFC would put him back in there against Gaethje again.
As far as other viable contenders for the belt, Pimblett scoffed at the suggestion that Arman Tsarukyan should be considered for that title shot after he’s been out of action since October 2025 with no end in sight to his lengthy layoff.
“He needs to fight,” Pimblett said during UFC 329 media day on Wednesday. “He’s had like one fight in three years and he beat an absolute bum. He needs to actually fight. Not go around in a singlet tickling people.”
Of course, Pimblett referenced Tsarukyan’s most recent win, which came against Dan Hooker in a lopsided performance for his fifth victory in a row overall. He also took aim at Tsarukyan’s biggest activity happening in RAF rather than the UFC where he’s become a mainstay in the freestyle wrestling promotion.
In fact, Tsarukyan is set to compete on Saturday at an RAF event in Georgia before returning to the United States for a showdown against Colby Covington one week later in Milwaukee. But none of those matches are happening in the UFC, which is Pimblett’s biggest frustration with Tsarukyan whenever he’s mentioned as a top contender at lightweight.
“[Fight] anyone. Just fight someone,” Pimblett said to Tsarukyan. “Get in the octagon and actually fight. Stop going around on your private jet eating food.”
When it comes to his own fight, Pimblett is confident he’ll dispatch Saint Denis on Saturday and take the necessary step forward to eventually clash with Gaethje again in the future.
Pimblett said he learned a valuable lesson from that first fight — ‘don’t go to war with Justin Gaethje’ — but he also knows there were mitigating factors that were working against him that night.
“I’m not going to use it as an excuse but the eye poke did change the fight in a big way,” Pimblett said. “The damage on my face was from an eye poke right hand.
“It wasn’t just an eye poke. I felt his thumb touch my brain. So it was a bit heavy. I couldn’t see for about two rounds after it.”
Still, Pimblett praised Gaethje for the win as well as going out there and beating Topuria to claim the undisputed title. Now he’s just hoping he’ll get a second crack at Gaethje in the near future.
“Obviously with him winning and becoming undisputed champion, it looks good for me,” Pimblett said. “I said after he beat me, I said he was going to beat Ilia Topuria. I said it was fate that he beat me. It was his destiny to win the title at the White House. I was just in the way.”
