The opening fights of UFC 323 didn’t feel like a warm-up period. They felt like a warning. Before the main card lights even flickered on in Las Vegas, the Octagon had already turned into a finishing school, and the message was clear: this final pay-per-view of the ESPN era was not interested in easing fans into the night.

Inside T-Mobile Arena, four finishes arrived one after another, each quicker and louder than the last. First-round stoppages. Sudden momentum shifts. Fighters going for broke. And somewhere outside the cage, Justin Gaethje was clearly watching, taking it all in like a veteran who knows exactly what kind of violence deserves civic recognition. When one particular brawl crossed the line from exciting into pure madness, ‘The Highlight’ made his pick!

UFC 323 starts off with a bang as Justin Gaethje makes his pick for $50,000 bonus

That moment came during the early prelims, when 205-pounders Iwo Baraniewski and Ibo Aslan turned their matchup into a one-round storm. Gaethje didn’t hesitate. He jumped on X and wrote, “50k all day for them boys 👏 #baraniewskivsaslan.” Simple. Direct. And very on brand.

The timing mattered. UFC 323 marks the promotion’s last numbered pay-per-view before its new Paramount Skydance media deal kicks in next year. Starting in 2026, PPVs will stream on Paramount+ in the U.S. at no extra cost, effectively ending a model that has defined the UFC since 1993. So when the early prelims exploded the way they did, it felt symbolic. If this was the last chapter of the ESPN pay-per-view era, it was going out swinging.

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The finishes stacked fast at the UFC 323 early prelims. At lightweight, Jalin Turner needed just 2:24 of Round 1 to stop Edson Barboza with punches. At middleweight, Mansur Abdul-Malik wrapped up Antonio Trocoli with a guillotine choke in 1:09. And at featherweight, Mairon Santos waited until the final minute of Round 3 before detonating a stunning knockout over Muhammad Naimov. Violence came in different forms, but it kept coming.

Still, it was Baraniewski versus Aslan that stole the UFC 323 early prelims for everyone watching. The matchup itself had quirks. Baraniewski entered as a perfect 6-0 prospect and a 2025 Contender Series winner, making his UFC debut. Aslan, by contrast, carried nearly three times the professional experience but came in on a two-fight skid. Even their names, Iwo and Ibo, felt like the matchmakers were winking at the audience.

The fight wasted no time living up to that energy. They collided early, crashing into the clinch. Baraniewski landed a short shot that sent Aslan to the mat, then stormed forward looking to end it immediately. But the chaos flipped in seconds. Aslan fired back with wild haymakers, pounding shots while Baraniewski shelled up along the fence. The rookie was hurt. The building held its breath.

Then came composure. In the middle of the storm, Baraniewski found space and answered with a clean right hand that dropped Aslan. Aslan got back up, because of course he did, and swung again. But the next exchange decided everything. Another sharp right landed. Baraniewski followed him to the mat, unleashed ground-and-pound, and finished it at 1:29 of the first round.

Justin Gaethje has built his own career on moments like that as a fighter used to choosing risk over caution, damage over delay. So his reaction made sense. There was no breakdown. No long caption. Just a nod to violence done right. And beyond the chaos of the UFC 323 early prelims, ‘The Highlight’ has laid out his plans for next month!

Gaethje plans to “play spoiler” when he takes on Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324

Next up is UFC 324, where Justin Gaethje headlines against Paddy Pimblett for the interim lightweight title. The matchup raised eyebrows immediately. With Ilia Topuria holding the undisputed belt and contenders like Arman Tsarukyan in the mix, this wasn’t the path most expected. But with Topuria stepping away for personal reasons, Gaethje doesn’t see this as a consolation prize. Not even close.

At the ‘It’s On’ seasonal press conference, the lightweight veteran stated, “It’s no disappointment at all, interim champion is the same as a champion, on paper, contract-wise. That’s what we fight for. This is my job, and it’s the biggest opportunity for me.”

The opponent’s reveal caught him off guard, too. “I didn’t know a long time before they announced the fight that it was going to be Paddy,” he admitted, explaining the UFC was waiting on Topuria’s status. Once that door closed, another opened, and Gaethje believes it leads straight to fireworks.

There’s history here, too. UFC 324 marks Gaethje’s second interim lightweight title fight. The first came at UFC 249, when he stepped in on short notice and handed Tony Ferguson his first loss in six years. That night derailed the long-awaited Khabib Nurmagomedov matchup. Sound familiar?

Gaethje certainly thinks so as he further shared, “I want to fight Ilia. I want to play spoiler, just like I did with Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and Tony [Ferguson]. I’m going to f— this up for everybody. There’s going to be no Paddy and Ilia.”

As such, for Justin Gaethje, that early prelim brawl wasn’t background noise. It was a mirror. Baraniewski surviving madness and choosing to answer with violence is the same instinct that has carried ‘The Highlight’ through the biggest moments of his own career. It’s also the mindset he’s about to take into UFC 324, where once again, he’s positioning himself not as a placeholder, but as a disruptor!