Paddy Pimblett has vowed he would “proper hurt” Ilia Topuria, if the UFC stars were to settle their longtime grudge.
Pimblett and Topuria were involved in a backstage altercation ahead of UFC London in 2022, where “Paddy The Baddy” threw a bottle of hand sanitiser at the Spanish-Georgian, who was confronting the Scouser over allegedly anti-Georgian comments on social media.
At the ensuing Fight Night, Pimblett submitted Rodrigo Vargas, and Topuria knocked out Jai Herbert. The latter bout saw Topuria venture up to lightweight, Pimblett’s division, though he soon returned to featherweight, where he won the title in 2024.
Now, however, Topuria is back at 155lb, having vacated the 145lb title in February. “El Matador” is preparing to face former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira for the vacant belt on 28 June, while Pimblett is likely one win away from a title shot.
As such, Pimblett vs Topuria is finally a realistic possibility again, and the Liverpudlian discussed that match-up while talking to compatriot Tom Aspinall, the interim UFC heavyweight champion.
“If Ilia wins and says he wants to fight me, the UFC will make that fight, because they know it’s a money fight,” Pimblett said on Aspinall’s YouTube channel. “That’s one of those fights, there’ll be a f*****g world press tour like [Conor] McGregor vs [Jose] Aldo.
“I know I’d beat him. Funny, because I get laughed at for it, but I know I beat him. We’ve already talked about gameplans to beat him, and I know how to beat him.
“No one goes for his weaknesses when he fights them. Everyone [has] just decided to have a boxing match with him. I’m not going to come out and have a boxing match with him; I’m going to beat him with my all-around MMA game.
“As I said, I know I’d beat him up, and I reckon I proper hurt him and just shut everyone up even more – like I love to do.”
Topuria, 28, is unbeaten as a professional, while Pimblett has three losses to his name but none in the UFC; since debuting in the promotion in 2021, the 30-year-old has gone 7-0.
Last time out, in April, Paddy The Baddy dominated and stopped Michael Chandler, a former UFC lightweight title challenger who previously held the Bellator belt three times.
Meanwhile, Topuria will enter the UFC 317 main event on the back of two straight knockouts of featherweight greats. In February 2024, he stopped Alexander Volkanovski to take the title from the long-reigning champion; then, in October, he scored the same result against former title holder Max Holloway, retaining the gold in the process.
