Before Dana White locked in the UFC 324 main event, Ilia Topuria stood as the clear frontrunner to headline the card. However, there wasn’t any real green light from the promotion about ‘El Matador’ becoming the star to kickstart their Paramount+ journey. So, the idea of the 155 lbs king stepping in for January remained nothing more than speculation. But Joe Rogan’s friend recently revealed that it wasn’t the case.  

At the end of last month, Ilia Topuria announced that he wouldn’t fight in the first quarter of next year. With the champion out of the picture for a while, Gaethje and Pimblett are set to fight for the interim belt to determine who’s gonna face Topuria next. However, according to Joe Rogan’s friend and former UFC fighter Brendan Schaub, the UFC’s original plan was to put ‘El Matador’ against ‘The Baddy, ’ and ‘The Highlight’ only came in as a later replacement at UFC 324.

Brendan Schaub claims Paddy Pimblett vs Justin Gaethje wasn’t UFC’s first choice for UFC 324  

“Ilia Topuria came out and said he’s taking a layoff, dealing with some personal issues. So he’ll fight on the White House card. That’s how that’s going to go down. I know for 1,000% 100,000% fact sources locked in… it was going to be Paddy Pimblett.  Ilia Topuria pulls out. The UFC is like, ‘Oh s—t, we got to do something for Paramount,’ and they called up Justin Gaethje.’ Schaub said in his YouTube video.   

Although Brendan Schaub dropped this massive insight into the lightweight division’s development, he didn’t reveal where he got the information from. But it has to be said that Ilia Topuria vs Paddy Pimblett always lived in the realm of possibility, especially since the champ himself showed more interest in fighting him than any other contender, explicitly mentioning the history between them. So, there could be some real substance behind ‘Big Brown’s statement. But that’s not all, Schaub takes it further. 

Top Stories

Conor McGregor Legal Battle Ends as 2023 NBA Finals Lawsuit Dropped: Report

UFC 324 Faces Major Shake-Up as Former Champ’s Fight Falls Apart

Arman Tsarukyan Poised to Fight Outside UFC After Dana White’s Title Snub

Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey Make Views Clear on Female UFC Star’s Knockout of Male Sparring Partner

Alex Pereira Teases Historic Return With Ominous Warning, Sparking Jon Jones Speculation

“We don’t know the inner workings behind the scenes. I’d be willing to bet Gaethje vs. Pimblett wasn’t their number-one choice for this. With Ilia pulling out, I’m sure they made other offers we won’t hear about, with bigger names, and it just didn’t come to fruition. This is the best they could do to get the most eyeballs.” Brendan Schaub added on his recently uploaded video. 

Again, it could be true. It’s a no-brainer that the UFC would’ve needed a massive title fight to headline their event, and with Topuria out, it opened the door to end the lightweight contender search with an interim title fight. And since Justin Gaethje made it very clear that he would retire if he didn’t fight for the belt, the promotion likely decided to meet ‘The Highlight’s demand and raise the stakes of this matchup with gold on the line. 

Now, as the UFC 324 winner looks ahead to facing Ilia Topuria in the future, Arman Tsarukyan once again finds himself pushed to the side, even after beating Dan Hooker at UFC Qatar. And while fans feel sorry for the Armenian, Brendan Schaub believes there’s a reason why the UFC didn’t trust him with a title shot.

Brendan Schaub explains why Arman Tsarukyan didn’t get a title shot  

Well, like the majority of fans, ‘Big Brown’ also believes that Arman Tsarukyan would’ve been the rightful fighter to face Ilia Topuria next. His reasoning lines up with what fans have been saying that Tsarukyan’s position as the number one contender should give him the chance to fight for the gold. 

“He has to take some ownership. He fought twice in 2023, not super active. He fought once last year and won by split decision. And then he fought once this year. So, some of this kind of on him. And then remember, they offered him the fight against Makhachev, and he missed weight.”Schaub said on his YouTube video.  

‘Big Brown’s point has been the most repeated argument from people who believe Tsarukyan didn’t deserve the title shot. After Tsarukyan defeated Charles Oliveira at UFC 300 via split decision, he blew the title fight against Islam Makhachev at UFC 311 because of a back injury, but White claimed he actually missed weight. Then he returned to beat Dan Hooker at UFC Qatar, a matchup many believed was a mismatch.

Still, even with all that, plenty of fans think Arman was the rightful contender to fight for the title against Topuria. So, as the lightweight division keeps thriving on divided opinions, who do you think should face Ilia Topuria when he returns? Let us know in the comments below.