UFC 324 Predictions | Gaethje vs Pimblett Fight Picks

UFC 324 will take place on Saturday, Jan. 24, live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The main event for this card will see Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett in an interim lightweight title bout, as Ilia Topuria is taking some time away from fighting due to personal reasons.

In addition to this main event, there are some other high-level fights, including Sean O’Malley vs. Song Yadong and Derrick Lewis vs. Waldo Cortes Acosta.

Below, I’ll break down Saturday’s full card and my top UFC 324 predictions.

UFC betting lines used for these predictions are current as of Thursday, Jan. 22, and courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

UFC 324 Main Event Odds

To Win: Paddy Pimblett (-210) • Justin Gaethje (+190)

This is an intriguing matchup: Gaethje is more of a striker, while Pimblett will look to submit.

That said, I lean toward Pimblett here. Gaethje is 37 years old. He’s been submitted twice, both times in championship fights.

I predict Pimblett (-230) wins the interim lightweight title.

UFC 324 Card & Schedule

UFC 324 will feature 12 fights in all.

The early prelims are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. ET, the prelims will start at 7 p.m., and the main card kicks off at 9 p.m.

UFC 324 will be broadcasted on Paramount+, the UFC’s new broadcast partner.

Below is a list of the full UFC 324 fight card:

UFC 324 Main Event Prediction

Paddy Pimblett Defeats Justin Gaethje by Submission (+130)

While I expect the opening round to go to Gaethje when he hasn’t exerted much energy yet, as the fight goes on, Pimblett will find his opening.

Pimblett is 10-1 all-time when the result is a submission, and Gaethje has struggled with that throughout his career, going 1-2 when the result is a submission, with the two losses coming in title fights against Charles Oliveira and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Take this method-of-victory prop as one of your best UFC bets today.

UFC 324 Undercard Best Bets

Sean O’Malley Defeats Song Yadong (-205)

Earlier in his career, O’Malley had many of those highlight-reel knockout finishes. While I don’t think that’ll happen here, he should outlast Yadong and get the win via decision.

O’Malley is the more accurate striker, landing 61% of his significant strikes compared to Yadong’s 44%. Additionally, O’Malley is better at getting takedowns.

Yadong is aggressive, but O’Malley will be able to counter that aggressiveness thanks to his height and reach.

Derrick Lewis Defeats Waldo Cortes-Acosta by KO/TKO/DQ (+300)

Lewis is the underdog in this fight, as Cortes-Acosta fought five times in 2025 and went 4-1.

Still, Lewis is one of the most dominant knockout artists we’ve ever seen, and he’s coming off a 35-second KO of Tallison Teixeira back in July 2025.

This is a great challenge for Cortes-Acosta, but Lewis connects and gets the win in one of the first two rounds.

UFC 324 Prelims Best Bets

Umar Nurmagomedov Defeats Deiveson Figueiredo (-1450)

The odds don’t leave a lot of room for value, but this should be a relatively easy win for Nurmagomedov. I considered saying he wins via decision (-135) in dominant fashion, so that’s an option, but Figueiredo will be outclassed here.

He’s smaller than Nurmagomedov, and Nurmagomedov has a much higher significant strikes landed per minute and a higher takedown average per 15 minutes.

Also, Nurmagomedov got a win going the distance against Cory Sandhagen, a guy who finished off Figueiredo in the second round in May 2025.

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Ateba Gautier Defeats Andre Pulyaev by KO/TKO/DQ (-500)

While Pulyaev has only been knocked out once in his career, Gautier’s power will catch him in this one.

Gautier is 9-1, including an 8-0 record in fights that result in a KO, and he lands 6.57 significant strikes per minute.

Pulyaev is just 2-1 in the UFC if you want to consider his win over Liam Anderson in Dana White’s Contender Series as part of the UFC.

Given the price, this method-of-victory prop could be a good fit for any UFC 324 parlays.