It wasn't to be for Paddy Pimblett in his quest to become UFC lightweight interim champion as Justin Gaethje rolled back the years.

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It was a bad night for Britons in general at UFC 324 as Arnold Allen and Modestes Bukauskas lost their respective bouts.

Arnold Allen was beaten on points by Jean Silva in a terrific featherweight bout.

Silva broke down in tears and hugged Allen at the final bell and said afterwards it was difficult to fight someone he "admired" so much.

Earlier Lithuanian-British fighter Bukauskas suffered a last-gasp stoppage loss to Nikita Krylov in their light-heavyweight bout.

It was Bukauskas first chance to fire himself into the top 15 rankings, but the 31-year-old was stopped in the final moments of the third round by a big left hand he couldn't recover from.

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A number of fighters have had their say on that remarkable fight on X.

Former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov said: "Justin Gaethje absolute legend, my congratulations. What a fight. And don’t forget Justin almost 38 years old."

Ex interim lightweight title holder Dustin Poirier wrote: "Welcome to the big leagues Patrick. One up for the legends."

Former flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo said: "One of the greatest fights of all-time. Justin Gaethje #AndNew."

Dana White confirms Paddy Pimblett has gone to the hospital after his bloody fight with Justin Gaethje to get checked out.

They tried to send Gaethje too but White said: "Gaethje was like, 'Believe me I was in plenty of wars, I’m good'.”

He also said he "didn't know Paddy had a chin like that".

The punching statistics show Paddy Pimblett out-struck Justin Gaethje in terms of volume in round one, three and four.

It was likely the damage delivered by Gaethje, plus the knockdowns in round one and two, that worked in his favour.

Regardless of the result, Pimblett can take a lot of heart from that performance. He will be back.

An interesting one pre-fight from Justin Gaethje here. The UFC star says he "couldn't see or taste" before having life-changing surgery.

So then, it looks like we're now looking forward to Ilia Topuria v Justin Gaethje for the UFC lightweight title.

Excited for that?

More from Paddy Pimblett: "There are a few more things that I wanted to say, although it would have been better if I won.

"My friend in the gym, his mum passed away a couple of months ago so I just want to dedicate that to him.

"In a few of my post-fight interviews before, I've mentioned men killing themselves; two lads who I know have killed themselves over the last few months. Men, speak up, don't bottle your feelings up.

"Obviously, I'm a Liverpool fan, I know there will be loads of Liverpool fans here. There is a Liverpool legend, Diogo Jota and his brother, who passed away. I'd like to dedicate that to them even though I didn't win.

"Dana [White] - fight of the night, or what?"

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Paddy Pimblett speaking after his defeat: "I wanted to be walking away with that belt. I know how tough I am and I don't need to prove that to anyone.

"There is no man I'd rather lose to than the Highlight; he is someone I loved watching growing up and it shows why he is a legend.

"I think 48-47 was a fair scorecard. I won't lie, he hit me with a body shot in the first round and it got me. I thought I was winning the round up to that point.

"You live and you learn; I'm 31, I will be back better. You haven't seen the last of me."

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Justin Gaethje speaking after his victory: "Paddy is right; scousers do not get knocked out! What a gangster.

"I told him just then, I was just where you were at not too long ago. It is a crazy sport and an amazing life. I am so thankful to share it with you guys and I thank god every day for my parents. I hope you parents out there can be like my parents, leading by example."

On his aggressive start: "My coach was definitely upset at me after the first round, but I just love this so much, it's really hard to control myself sometimes.

"I knew I had to put him on his back foot, he is very dangerous and has great timing. I had to steal his momentum and confidence.

"I went away from the game plan by trying to kill him as usual. The shots that hurt him were the ones I didn't even know I was hitting him with. I should trust my coach, he has such a great game plan."

In beating Paddy Pimblett Justin Gaethje has become the first fighter in UFC history to become a two-time interim champion.

Add that to the symbolic BFM belt the American won in 2023 and you've got one of the finest lightweight resumes of all time.

Just the undisputed title missing, but Gaethje will surely get his third opportunity at winning it after that performance.

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Paddy Pimblett's right eye is not looking great right now. He says there's "no man I'd rather lose to than Gaethje".

He says he'll "be back better. You haven't seen the last of me".

The judges scored the fight 48-47, 49-46, 49-46 in favour of Justin Gaethje.

Stay tuned for reaction from Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett.

It's heartbreaking for Paddy Pimblett to lose but he'll take a lot of credit from that fight.

Brilliant scrap.

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Pimblett is beat up bad and Gaethje somehow looks like he hasn't taken a punch but I bet he's hurting!

I'd be very shocked if Gaethje doesn't have his hand raised soon.

Daniel Cormier
Retired two-weight UFC champion on TNT Sports

If every fight before this sucked, this fight would still have made it a crazy successful night.

These guys are laying it on the line.

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To the scorecards we go. What a fight!

Both end it swinging for their lives and falling down out of sheer exhaustion.

Daniel Cormier
Retired two-weight UFC champion on TNT Sports

Pimblett has taken so much damage. The fact he is still standing and throwing is crazy.