Gaethje upsets Pimblett to win interim lightweight title at UFC 324

LAS VEGAS (AP) — One of the storylines entering UFC 324 was whether Justin Gaethje would retire after facing Paddy Pimblett on Saturday night.

Looks like Gaethje has plenty left if he wants to continue his career.

Gaethje went after Pimblett from the beginning, his aggressiveness leading to a unanimous decision and upset victory for the interim lightweight title.

“My coach was definitely upset with me after the first round,” Gaethje said. “I love this (stuff) so much, it’s really hard to control myself sometimes. I knew that I had to put him on his back foot. He is very dangerous, got great timing. I had to steal momentum and his confidence. I had to work really hard in the first round. Champions move forward.”

In the first UFC fight card on Paramount+, the judges awarded Gaethje (27-5) the victory by scores of 48-47, 49-46 and 49-46. The Associated Press scored it 48-47 for Gaethje.

Pimblett (23-4) was a -250 favorite at BetMGM Sportsbook.

In the co-main event, third-ranked bantamweight challenger Sean O’Malley (19-3) of Phoenix defeated No. 5 Song Yadong (22-9-1) of China by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 29-28. O'Malley appeared in real trouble before putting together his strongest round in the third.

UFC CEO and President Dana White said the Paramount viewership numbers will come out Tuesday or Wednesday, but the early results were more than promising.

“This exceeded expectations beyond belief for Paramount,” White said. “We know it killed it. They're saying it exceeded expectations by double. We've got a real good feeling we're going to have a great relationship for seven years."

Gaethje and Pimblett waged a physical and bloody fight. White said Pimblett was sent to a hospital but that Gaethje refused to go.

“I wanted that belt, but there's no other man I would rather lose to,” Pimblett said. “For me, it's the idea of someone I've loved watching growing up watching the UFC. It shows why he's a legend right there.”

The combatants weren't the only ones injured. Referee Mark Smith was carried out of the octagon after tearing an ACL while officiating the Ateba Gautier-Andrey Pulyaev bout.

Gaethje, a 37-year-old who fights out of Denver, landed a series of punches about a minute and a half into the fight and took Pimblett to the mat. The pounding continued in the second round when Gaethje took the 31-year-old Englishman down three times. On the third time, with about 30 seconds left, Gaethje was relentless in landings blows on Pimblett's face.

But Pimblett began to find his game in the third round despite bleeding by his right eye. He connected with enough punches while remaining standing to get back into the bout.

At least temporarily.

A strong combination by Gaethje midway through the fourth turned the fight back into his favor. Even though he was taken to the floor late in the round, it was Gaethje who pounded Pimblett's face. Each approached the fifth as if he didn't want to leave it in the judge's hands, and Pimblett put together a combination with about a minute left.

The crowd stood to applaud both fighters when the final bell rang, a tribute to the entertaining and action-filled bout.

The way this card came together might not have been what White had in mind when putting together first Paramount+ card, and there were issues right up until fight day.

A bout between fourth-ranked challenger (Gaethje) against the fifth-ranked one (Pimblett) wouldn't be ideal for the headline event in any numbered card, particularly to kick off the seven-year relationship with Paramount. And then to put the interim belt on the line could seem a bit of a reach.

But both also are fan favorites, Gaethje for his renowned skill and willingness to take on anyone and Pimblett as a rising star who could be one of the primary faces of the UFC. In the end, the show they put on probably will overshadow any other concerns about the card.

“I told (Pimblett) right now I was where you were not too long ago,” Gaethje said. “It's a crazy sport and a (flipping) amazing life. I'm so grateful to share it with you guys (the fans).”

But a number of factors led to this scenario. Reigning champion Ilia Topuria has taken a leave of absence for personal reasons, top-ranked challenger Arman Tsarukyan is recovering from a back injury and No. 2 Charles Oliveira and No. 3 Max Holloway are scheduled to fight each other at UFC 326 on March 7.

The UFC at least had hoped to put on a co-main event that by itself would have drawn a lot of attention. But neck surgery forced women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison to withdraw from her scheduled bout with Amanda Nunes. It was quite a blow to the card considering Nunes, a Hall of Famer and former two-division champion, had come out of retirement to accept this fight. She came anyway, watching the action with her two daughters.

Then on Friday, bantamweight fighter Cameron Smotherman collapsed after weighing in, forcing cancellation of his match with Ricky Turcios. A lightweight fight between Michael Johnson and Alexander Hernandez was removed from the schedule on Saturday after the UFC's betting integrity service notified the organization of a potential wagering problem.

“So we pulled the fight,” White said.

The UFC had put its numbered cards on pay-per-view, but the organization signed a seven-year deal with Paramount in August that now airs those and other events on the subscription-based streaming service. CBS will simulcast some events.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

Paddy Pimblett, left, and Justin Gaethje embrace after Gaethje defeated Pimblett in an interim lightweight title fight during the UFC 324 mixed martial arts event Saturday Jan. 24, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Steve Marcus)

Justin Gaethje, left, and Paddy Pimblett battle in an interim lightweight title fight during the UFC 324 mixed martial arts event Saturday Jan. 24, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Steve Marcus)

Jean Silva, top, jumps on the back of Arnold Allen, bottom, in a featherweight bout during the UFC 324 mixed martial arts event Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Steve Marcus)

Sean O'Malley, left, is taken down by Song Yadong, right, in a bantamweight bout during the UFC 324 mixed martial arts event Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Steve Marcus)

Sean O'Malley, left, is declared the winner over Song Yadong in a bantamweight bout during the UFC 324 mixed martial arts event Saturday Jan. 24, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Steve Marcus)

A view of T-Mobile Arena during the UFC 324 mixed martial arts event Saturday Jan. 24, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Steve Marcus)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — René Redzepi, the founder and celebrity chef at the iconic Danish restaurant Noma that won three Michelin stars and other international accolades for its innovative “New Nordic” cuisine, has stepped down following allegations of abuse and assault at the Copenhagen landmark.

Redzepi has been dogged for years by reports of mistreatment of his staff as well as his yearslong use of unpaid interns to staff the pricy restaurant, which was ranked first on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants List five times. But the criticism recently came to a head on social media, and an article in The New York Times detailed former employees' accounts of abuse just days ahead of the opening of a Noma pop-up in Los Angeles.

Sponsors have since pulled their funding for the Southern California residency, which opened on Wednesday to a small gathering of protesters and where a meal will cost $1,500. Redzepi announced his resignation on Instagram with a tearful video soon after.

“I have worked to be a better leader and Noma has taken big steps to transform the culture over many years,” he wrote in the post's caption on Thursday. “I recognize these changes do not repair the past. An apology is not enough; I take responsibility for my own actions.”

Jason Ignacio White, a former head of Noma’s fermentation lab, collected anonymous testimonies of alleged abuse at the restaurant and posted them to his Instagram page. The accounts, which range from verbal abuse to physical assault at the hands of Redzepi and his deputies, have gone viral.

“I got punched in the face during service there,” one unidentified person wrote to White.

Another said: “Noma destroyed my passion for the industry. I struggled with intense anxiety, bad enough to give me panic attacks in the middle of the night. The trauma, abuse and idea that nothing would ever change all led me to walk away from the career.”

Redzepi has publicly addressed his aggression over the last decade. In response to Saturday's New York Times article, which included interviews with 35 former employees who worked at Noma between 2009 and 2017, the chef apologized on Instagram and said he has worked to change his behavior.

He was knighted in 2016 to Denmark's Order of Dannebrog by then-Queen Margrethe II.

Noma, Redzepi and the Danish royal family's press department did not immediately return requests for comment on Thursday.

Kristoffer Dahy Ernst, editor-in-chief of Danish food magazine Gastro, said Redzepi had to step down for the restaurant to have a chance of survival.

“René Redzepi is the face of Noma, he is Noma,” Dahy Ernst told The Associated Press. “If you want to solve the huge problem that Noma has right now, you have to remove the source of the problem.”

Dahy Ernst said it is unclear whether Noma can continue without its visionary founder, who brought international acclaim to a Scandinavian country that can trace a change in its gastro-tourism before and after the restaurant's 2003 opening. With its dedication to hospitality, flawless execution and culture of foraging from the nearby land and sea, Noma made Copenhagen a top dining destination for foodies worldwide.

“We were very old-fashioned. We had open-faced sandwiches with rye bread, but we weren’t really that proud of our gastronomy,” Dahy Ernst said.

Nick Curtin, the American executive chef and owner of Copenhagen's Michelin-starred Alouette restaurant, said the culinary industry gives too much power to a single person at the top.

“It’s long overdue that we get rid of the notion that sacrifice, humiliation, pain (and) violence are the ways — the building blocks — for greatness,” he told the AP.

Copenhagen local Nicklas Keng said he doesn’t expect that an industrywide reckoning will follow. But he’s hopeful that even if Noma’s excellence fades, its talented alumni in Denmark will ensure that Copenhagen’s food scene stays on the map.

For Annie Nguyen, an American tourist visiting Copenhagen, Noma had long been on her list of places to check out. But the recent headlines have prompted a change of heart.

“I personally would not want to continue dining there with that kind of culture,” she said. “I feel it does kind of leave a bad taste.”

Dazio reported from Berlin.

A staff member polishes the glass doors outside a Noma restaurant in Copenhagen, Tuesday, May 1, 2012. (Keld Navntoft/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Noma's chef René Redzepi smells a citrus fruit in Copenhagen, Nov. 24, 2024. (Soeren Bidstrup/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Noma's chef René Redzepi prepares a vegetarian burger in a restaurant, in Copenhagen, Nov. 24, 2024. (Soeren Bidstrup/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)