Ilia Topuria is still unloading on Paddy Pimblett, and he is not even pretending there is much of a rivalry left after that loss to Justin Gaethje. The lightweight champion said he came away shocked by how badly Pimblett performed that night, then twisted the knife by saying his longtime rival basically needs a full rebuild from scratch.
The result at UFC 324 changed a lot in one night. Pimblett was supposed to beat Gaethje, grab the interim belt, and move straight into a much louder fight with Topuria. Instead, Gaethje broke up the plan, took the title opportunity for himself, and left Pimblett trying to explain how the whole thing went sideways. That fallout also lined up with Topuria’s recent comments about Pimblett, Gaethje, and Islam Makhachev as the lightweight picture keeps shifting around him.
Topuria’s frustration makes more sense when the background is part of it. The Georgian-Spanish champion built his name by storming through featherweight, knocking out Alexander Volkanovski to win the belt, stopping Max Holloway in his first defense, then moving up and taking lightweight gold. Pimblett came up differently, first as a Cage Warriors champion and then as one of the UFC’s louder promotional projects at 155. Their feud had real money-fight potential, which is why Pimblett’s collapse against Gaethje hit this hard.
Watch the source clip below:
“I was a little surprised at how bad Paddy really is. I was expecting him to win, to be honest.
He really proved that he’s a little sausage… How is he going to gain the skills and technique needed in this sport? That’s basically impossible. He needs to die and be born again.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 20, 2026
Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Topuria said,
“I was a little surprised at how bad Paddy really is. I was expecting him to win, to be honest. I was expecting him to take Justin down, to do a different fight. What he did inside the Octagon in that fight, it surprised me a little bit. He really proved that he’s a little sausage.”
Topuria did not stop there. He said,
“Rebound from a loss? Of course, but how he is going to gain the skills and technique needed in the sport? That’s basically impossible. He needs to die and be born again … now he’s too far [down the rankings], we don’t see him in the horizon anymore. Bye Paddy. I didn’t even have to step inside the octagon to beat him, so that feels even a little bit better.”
Ilia Topuria says Paddy Pimblett fumbled the fight that was supposed to set up their grudge match
Topuria is not just mocking Pimblett for losing. He is saying Pimblett managed to lose the rivalry without even getting the fight. For a matchup the UFC could have turned into a massive sell, that is brutal.
The setup heading into that fight looked perfect for Pimblett. He had youth, momentum, and a huge reaction from fans. Gaethje was still dangerous, but he also looked like the kind of veteran name Pimblett was supposed to jump over on the way to an even bigger payday. Instead, Pimblett got broken up, Gaethje walked off with the interim title, and the whole conversation flipped. Pimblett has since tried to explain the loss and even pushed for another crack at Gaethje, with Pimblett calling him a ‘dirty bastard’ while asking for a rematch.
That does not seem to matter much to Topuria anymore. What used to sound like irritation over a delayed grudge match now sounds more like contempt. He wanted the fight when it could make noise. Now he sounds like he thinks Pimblett played himself out of the picture. Topuria still has bigger names and bigger stakes in front of him, and he has already been talking like the real prize fight still sits higher up the ladder.
