No more fun and games.
Newly-crowned UFC lightweight champion, Ilia Topuria, is expected to make his next 155-pound title defense against longtime division contender, Justin Gaethje, atop the UFC 324 lineup next January in Los Angeles, the first UFC fight card on the promotion’s new Paramount+ deal.
That said, nothing is official at this time — so don’t buy those plane tickets just yet.
Topuria opened as the -500 betting favorite, according to BetOnline.ag, with Gaethje pegged as the +385 underdog.
Despite his credentials as a collegiate wrestler, Gaethje prefers to stand-and-bang and will likely do the same for his third (and likely final) lightweight title fight.
Perhaps that’s why it’s being called “a bad fight” by his fellow combatants.
Gaethje, 36, rebounded from a knockout loss to Max Holloway at UFC 300 to score a unanimous decision victory over lightweight striker, Rafael Fiziev, as part of the UFC 313 pay-per-view (PPV) card last March in Las Vegas, improving his MMA record to 26-5 with 20 knockouts.
Paddy Pimblett remains in the mix, Arman Tsarukyan does not.
