Paddy Pimblett reveals staggering amount he spent to bring family and friends to UFC 324 fight

Paddy Pimblett spent ‘more than $100,000’ to bring his loved ones to Las Vegas for UFC 324.

Pimblett fights veteran Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title in the main event of UFC 324 on Saturday.

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‘The Baddy’ and his opponent both made championship weight on Friday morning, when UFC bantamweight Cameron Smotherman shockingly collapsed after hitting the scales himself.

Pimblett has talked all week about how important his family and friends are to him, and how special it is to represent Liverpool on the biggest stage.

He even received a special message from legend of the City Steven Gerrard, who expressed how proud he was of Pimblett in the build-up.

So when it came down to splashing the cash to bring his inner circle to Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, it was a no-brainer.

Paddy Pimblett: There’s going to be a lot of Scousers in Las Vegas

Speaking on the UFC 324 morning weigh-in show, Pimblett was asked to confirm rumours that he purchased 250 tickets at around $100,000 [£73,200] for the event.

“It’s more than $100,000,” the Liverpudlian responded.

“It’s like $140k [£102.5k], $150k [£110k], and there’s a lot of Scousers with tickets who I haven’t got for.

“So there’s gonna be a good few of them in [the T-Mobile Arena].”

Pimblett is on a seven-fight winning streak in the UFC, having defeated top-ranked lightweight contender Michael Chandler in his last fight.

The 31-year-old stopped Chandler, who has been calling to fight Conor McGregor at UFC White House, in round three with brutal elbows on the ground.

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Pimblett promises violence at UFC 324

He has promised to ‘put a beatdown’ on Gaethje when the pair clash in the main event of UFC 324.

The event marks the UFC’s first show of 2026 and the first as part of its whopping $7.7billion broadcast deal with CBS and Paramount+.

Both Pimblett and Gaethje were present at the UFC 324 pre-fight press conference on Thursday.

Gaethje accused his opponent of ‘disrespecting legends’ on stage over comments Pimblett made about Dustin Poirier‘s retirement fight.

Pimblett said Poirier put unnecessary expectation on himself by announcing his retirement before the fight, with Gaethje also expected to lay down the gloves for good should he come up short on Saturday.

Gaethje responded by saying he was ‘going to dog walk this English f***’ in the UFC 324 headliner.

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Also on the card, Sean O’Malley fights Song Yadong at bantamweight in a fight with huge ramifications on the title picture at 135lbs.

Waldo Cortes-Acosta meets fan-favourite Derrick Lewis at heavyweight, and Natalia Silva fights former UFC women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas.

Kayla Harrison‘s first women’s bantamweight title defence against Amanda Nunes was meant to feature as the co-main event in Sin City, but the champion pulled out due to a neck injury.

The UFC 324 main card begins at 2am GMT on Sunday (9pm ET), with Arnold Allen’s featherweight clash with Jean Silva the opener.

Allen is returning from a long injury and told talkSPORT.com he plans to fight for the featherweight title, currently held by Alexander Volkanovski, by the end of 2026.