Pimblett reveals retirement fears before UFC 329 — then Gaethje's upset reignited him

Paddy Pimblett has revealed he was weighing up retirement in the weeks before UFC 329, only for Justin Gaethje’s stunning upset victory over Ilia Topuria to reignite his championship ambitions and carry him to a first-round submission win over Benoit St. Denis in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Pimblett (24-4) had publicly predicted that St. Denis (17-4) would shoot for a takedown and get choked out — and the fight unfolded almost exactly as he described, ending in the first round of their lightweight co-main event. But behind the confident exterior, the Liverpudlian was privately questioning whether a loss would make continuing worthwhile.

“About four weeks ago, five weeks ago, I was like, ‘If I don’t win this fight, what’s the point in fighting anymore? I might as well retire. If I can’t beat BSD, then what’s the point in fighting?’” Pimblett said on the UFC’s About Last Fight podcast. “If I can’t beat BSD, I’m never going to be a world champion. And that’s what I do this for. I do this to be the best in the world.”

The turning point came just two days after those doubts surfaced, when Gaethje dethroned Topuria to claim the undisputed lightweight title at UFC Freedom 250. Pimblett, who had suffered a hard-fought loss to Gaethje previously, described the result as a jolt of inspiration that transformed his final weeks of training camp.

“Justin Gaethje beats Ilia Topuria. And it was one of the biggest kicks up the ass I’ve ever had in me life,” he said. “Set a fire underneath me and just the last couple of weeks of this training camp have been unbelievable. And I’m ready to kill anyone. Put anyone in front of me and I’ll kill them.”

Pimblett added that the finish against St. Denis came so quickly he had to alert the referee: “I had to say to Marc, ‘Lad, he’s out. He’s unconscious.’” The win keeps Pimblett’s lightweight title ambitions alive, with Gaethje now holding the belt he has long targeted.