Newly crowned lightweight champion Ilia Topuria called out Paddy Pimblett during his UFC 317 Octagon Interview after knocking out former titleholder Charles Oliveira this past Saturday.
Pimblett was sitting octagon-side at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and witnessed Topuria, the former featherweight titleholder, become a two-division UFC champion. He then entered the cage to face off with “El Matador.”
“That was a heavy knockout. I give you that respect, but you will never knock me out,” Pimblett said to Topuria. Topuria quipped back, “I’m going to submit you… I’m going to put my balls on your forehead you little p***y” before shoving Pimblett.
The situation could have easily escalated. UFC CEO Dana White wasn’t. happy that Pimblett was allowed to enter the octagon and said it should have never happened.
“I don’t know who the hell let him in there. That should have never happened. Let’s start there,” White said during the UFC 317 Post-Fight Press Conference. “I was already back in my room or the would have never happened.”
“My thing with Topuria is his wife and kid are in the octagon. It shouldn’t have happened.”
Topuria and Pimblett have history. The two were involved in an altercation at the fighter hotel in London ahead of the UFC London event in March 2022. Bottles of hand sanitizer and punches were thrown and insults were lobbed.
During the UFC 282 Press Conference, security had to get between the two as they engaged in a heated exchange of words. An eventual fight between the two seems inevitable.
Both Topuria and Pimblett want to fight each other and settle their storied rivalry inside the cage. It’s one of the biggest lightweight fights UFC matchmakers could book but there are other higher ranked fighters arguably more deserving. Deserving doesn’t always mean getting, though. A fight between Topuria and Pimblett would undoubtedly draw massive numbers.
