'I'm a harder puzzle for Gaethje than Khabib'

Britain's Paddy Pimblett says he expects to finish Justin Gaethje early in their interim UFC lightweight title, while his opponent described him as clearly "overconfident" at a UFC 324 news conference.

Pimblett cut a relaxed figure in a somewhat subdued media event at Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena, where the lightweights will fight on Saturday.

The 31-year-old is the favourite in the contest against the vastly experienced Gaethje and said he has the "desire and heart" to go five rounds with the American, but did not expect the fight to go beyond three.

"Nobody expects me to be as good as I am. Everyone underestimates me, but it helps in my favour," Pimblett said.

"It makes the fights easier for me because everyone underestimates me. I'm not Khabib (Nurmagomedov). No-one else is. I'm me.

"I'm an even harder puzzle to solve. I'm proper weird. You knew what Khabib was coming to do. You don't know what I'm coming to do."

Gaethje, who held the interim title briefly in 2020, took issue with Pimblett's "disrespect" towards legends like Dustin Poirier and insisted he could "dog walk" his younger opponent.

When asked if he wanted to beat Pimblett for his fellow legends of the UFC, the two-time undisputed title challenger bristled ever so slightly.

"I'm still in it. Legends retire. I ain't retired yet," he replied.

"The fire is still as bright and as hot as it's ever been.

"He's weird; he's awkward - awkward fighting style. It's going to be a little puzzle.

"I'm going to have to figure it out through the first round."

A few hundred fans attended the media event, the most notable of those a collection of Pimblett supporters donning wavy blonde wigs to match his famous locks.

A healthy number of Pimblett fans are expected to arrive in the next 48 hours as the former Cage Warriors champion aims to become the first fighter from Liverpool to claim a UFC title.

It will not be the full title, however, with Pimblett wishing a happy birthday to the absent champion, Ilia Topuria.

Pimblett is known for his personality as well as his quick tongue, but the full showman appears to be conserving his energy for fight night, perhaps an indicator of the significance of the fight before him.

Pimblett is on a seven-fight win streak, with impressive victories over Michael Chandler and Tony Ferguson of late, but Gaethje has competed at the highest level in the UFC for eight years, facing Nurmagomedov, Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway and Poirier.

The first face-off of the week passed without incident, with both men smiling and joking with each other as Gaethje immediately questioned whether Pimblett had got "taller" since their last staredown.

"Everybody's talking about my posture yesterday so I thought I'd prop it up a bit, so I'm not looking like the alien off Men in Black," Pimblett said.

Britain's Arnold Allen will take on Jean Silva in an intriguing featherweight bout that could push Allen closer to a title bout.

Brazil's Silva, 29, caused the biggest stir at the news conference, encouraging barking from his fans and trying to present an intimidating presence as he stepped on stage wearing sunglasses and a black hooded robe.

The sunglasses stayed on as Silva riled up his supporters and said he had achieved "five times more" in two years in the UFC than Allen's 10 in the organisation.

"I don't have a clue what's going on," said Allen as he struggled to follow Silva's comments through the translator and the barking.

Allen, 31, sits sixth in the rankings and told BBC Sport that Silva was the best option towards his goal of securing a shot at featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.

"I want to end the year as the number one contender or have that title fight confirmed," he said.

"You want to fight the best guys and he's very dangerous and makes a lot of noise, so it's exciting being in the Premier League.

"Every team is good and you have to play them all, so I want to be the best and I'm happy to play every team."