Ilia Topuria has a documented history with Paddy Pimblett, and if both men win their next bouts, the former would be interested in fighting the latter thereafter.
The former featherweight champion expressed this during a recent exclusive sit-down interview with the official UFC YouTube channel. Topuria prepares to fight Charles Oliveira in the pursuit of becoming part of the upper echelons in MMA history of fighters who have held belts in more than one weight category. Topuria vs. Oliveira is for the vacant lightweight title and serves as this year’s International Fight Week headliner, with the massive matchup serving as the UFC 317 main event.
When asked during this referenced interview about who will be next if he gets his ideal outcome against ‘Do Bronx’ this Saturday night, Ilia Topuria said,
“Hopefully, Paddy. Hopefully, he gets one more fight. He wins that fight, of course, and finally, we can be in the same Octagon together. It seemed like a couple of years ago it was impossible to have that fight. You were fighting at 145, and he was at 155. Now, it’s something that can happen. It started with a real London, now it’s real. It’s just a matter of time. I think it’s going to happen. If you ask me, it’s going to happen.”
“Do I like the Paddy style? I think people will enjoy that fight because we have a history behind us. We have a reality since a couple of years. So, it’s going to be a great fight and a huge fight. I think everyone’s going to love that fight. Why? Because it’s going to be a real fight. It’s not going to be something like we just have to fight each other. We respect each other, but we have to fight. It’s going to be a real fight.”
Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett’s rivalry history
Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett have had a beef with one another over the last few years, with the former Cage Warriors champion making some controversial comments about Georgia, which clearly did not sit well with the proud Georgian/ Spanish fighter Topuria. The issues reached a fever pitch in London at a UFC Fight Night in March 2022 with Pimblett throwing a bottle of hand sanitizer at Topuria during the altercation.
Since then, the barbs back-and-forth between the two have continued over the years with the two largely being separated by weight class as Pimblett fights in the UFC at lightweight while Topuria has largely been at featherweight with this only being his second UFC bout at lightweight. Now that the two are in the same weight category, a long-awaited clash between the two could potentially even come to fruition by the end of the year if all falls into place.
