Paddy Pimblett reignites UFC feud with chilling warning to bitter rival
UFC lightweight star Paddy Pimblett has launched a brutal attack on featherweight champion Ilia Topuria.
The pairs history dates all the way back to 2022, when both Pimblett and Topuria had a heated altercation at a UFC event in London. The two stars nearly came to blows when they met again at a UFC 282 press conference. Since then, they have traded barbs on multiple occasions.
‘El Matador’ has gone on to claim UFC gold after knocking out Alexander Volkanovski last year, whilst Pimblett has established himself as a real star in the lightweight division. As of right now, Topuria is seemingly uninterested in settling his rivalry with the Liverpudlian in the cage, but ‘The Baddy’ himself is open to welcoming the featherweight king to the 155lb division.
In a recent interview with Daniel Cortes, Pimblett was quick to hit out at Topuria and didn’t hold back in his assessment of the 28-year-old. “Ilia’s a midget,” Pimblett said. “People don’t understand how much bigger I am than Ilia. I’m so much bigger than him; people don’t realise. I’d love to do a stare down with him, just so everyone can see how much bigger I actually am than him.
“Don’t get me wrong, he’s very good. Just because I don’t like him doesn’t mean I’m going to sit here and lie. He’s a very good fighter. He is. But I also think he got fast-tracked to the belt because [Volkanovski] had cleared the featherweight division out already. I think he got fast-tracked to the belt. He’d only beat Bryce Mitchell and Josh Emmett and got a title shot. He didn’t even have to beat Brian Ortega or Yair Rodriguez or Arnold Allen. He skipped these fighters and got to fight for the belt just because Volk had cleared the division out.
“And I personally don’t think he knocks Volk out unless Volk got head kicked 12 weeks before by Islam [Makhachev]. I think Volk fought far too soon. Volk was winning that first and second round until he got caught. I think the rematch is going to be very telling because, obviously, he knocked Holloway out. Holloway’s never been knocked out, but he’s been in several wars. He’s took a lot of damage. I think if he beats Volk a second time and then beats a Diego Lopes, then yeah, he could go down as the best featherweight of all time. But he’s talking about coming up to lightweight when he’s only had one title defense. I think you need to defend the belt at least three times if you want to fight for the belt in the division above.”
Over the last few weeks, there have been a few whispers that Topuria is considering a move up to lightweight, and Pimblett is more than willing to go head-to-head with his foe. “If he wants to come to lightweight, I’m here waiting,” Pimblett said. “I’ll be there to welcome him. I don’t think anyone else in the division has got more of a claim to welcome him to the division than I have. … I’d love to have a fair fight with him and kick him all over the gaff.”
‘The Baddy’ hasn’t fought since he picked up the biggest win of his career last July, submitting King Green in Manchester, whilst Topuria successfully defended his featherweight strap in October by knocking out MMA legend Max Holloway.
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