Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett are set to meet in the first main event as part of the UFC’s new seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with Paramount, with the winner being crowned as the new interim lightweight champion.
‘It’s a garbage fight’: Matt Brown blasts UFC for Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett with Arman Tsarukyan left out
Matt Brown wants to know why Arman Tsarukyan didn’t get UFC title shot
Damon Martin is a veteran journalist and insider covering combat sports since 2003.
The fight was booked after reigning 155-pound champion Ilia Topuria announced plans to sit out for the first part of 2026 as he deals with personal issues. But while Gaethje and Pimblett are battling for interim gold, the true No. 1 contender in the division, Arman Tsarukyan, is left sitting on the sidelines with no clear path to a title shot of his own.
Tsarukyan has largely been passed over after he suffered a fight week injury, which scrapped his planned title fight against then champion Islam Makhachev back in January 2025. He returned in November and scored a dominant submission win over Dan Hooker, but Tsarukyan seemingly wasn’t even in consideration when the UFC decided to move forward with an interim title fight in January.
“It’s tragic,” retired UFC welterweight Matt Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “I feel bad for the guy. Apparently he came from a good upbringing and has money so he’s not so worried about that shit, but he shouldn’t be getting screwed like this. I feel kind of bad for him. This sucks. You put in all that work, put in all that time, do all the right things and I don’t even know why they’re so mad that he pulled out of that fight. He got injured. It happens all the time. Guys get injured. I know he got injured at a stupid time, it’s probably something silly, and I’d love to hear the actual story of what happened there.
“I don’t know why you punish a guy so much for getting injured. He’s probably training because he wants to win.”
Brown believes Tsarukyan getting passed over despite having a better ranking in the division than both of the fighters about to compete for an interim title proves the UFC isn’t trying to operate as a sport where the best always fight the best.
If that was truly the case, Tsarukyan would be in the UFC 324 main event and either Gaethje or Pimblett would have to continue working their way to a title shot of their own.
“I hate to keep rehashing, there’s just so many of these issues, that it comes down to the UFC’s monopoly control,” Brown said. “I hate to keep rehashing it and acting like I hate the UFC. I love it for the entertainment value, but when you’re a guy like Arman Tsarukyan, you’re the one getting f*cked because of this system.
“If it’s not as clear as day with this situation as it could ever be that UFC is entertainment and not sport, I don’t know what to tell you. It is entertainment. This fight is an entertainment fight. This is not a sport fight. No one was begging to see Pimblett and Gaethje. When you look at the numbers, why do we have rankings?”
It’s because Tsarukyan is lurking out there like some kind of boogeyman that Brown admits he’s not as interested in the Gaethje vs. Pimblett fight because the stakes aren’t as high.
Ideally, Brown would prefer the UFC finally do right by Tsarukyan and give him the title fight against Topuria when he’s ready to compete again and then Gaethje or Pimblett could then slot into a championship opportunity of their own.
“It’s a garbage fight,” Brown said about Gaethje vs. Pimblett. “This is a co-main event fight on probably a big card or something. This is a co-main event, No. 1 contender fight after Arman and Ilia fight. That’s what it should be.”
To add even more fuel to the fire, Brown believes without a shadow of a doubt that Tsarukyan would not only be favored to beat Gaethje or Pimblett but that he might be the only person currently occupying a spot in the lightweight division who’s capable of knocking off Topuria.
But instead of competing for an interim title or just getting an undisputed title shot, Tsarukyan is left waiting and there’s a world where he’s still waiting until 2027 rolls around.
“He’s beating Paddy or Gaethje,” Brown said about Tsarukyan. “I’d put my life savings on that. So if you’re Ilia, you don’t let that happen. I’m coming back and I’m going to fight these easier fights and maybe retake time off. Bide your time, stay at the top as long as you can. That just kind of struck me in the head. That might be what’s going on there.”
No matter who wins at UFC 324, Brown recognizes that Gaethje or Pimblett is going to be a sizable underdog going against Topuria and that only adds another problem to this matchup taking place at UFC 324.
That means the eventual fight for the undisputed lightweight title isn’t putting the two best guys against each other in the division and that only diminishes the prestige that’s supposed to come along with being a UFC champion.
“That’s what sucks about the whole situation in my opinion,” Brown explained. “You’ve got two guys fighting for a title that we would pick a lot of guys to beat them. [Ilia and Arman], those aren’t the only two guys we’d pick to beat them.
“The title is supposed to be the baddest dude in the world. He’s supposed to be the actual ‘BMF.’ The No. 1 guy in the world that nobody can beat and everybody’s challenging to try to beat this guy.”
