Ilia Topuria just lit a fuse, and Paddy Pimblett is ready to explode. After Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira to claim the lightweight title at UFC 317 on June 28, 2025, in Las Vegas, he called for a massive fight with Pimblett at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. During the UFC 317 post-fight show, Pimblett didn’t hold back.
“I’m always prepared. I’m always ready to do that,” he said about facing Topuria. “We’ve got history. You don’t even need to sell that fight. It sells itself. Two people who genuinely dislike each other. You don’t really get that. We haven’t seen that since Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and [Conor] McGregor—two people who actually hate each other. Because I hate him.”
Pimblett’s got bad intentions, adding:
“I wouldn’t even want to finish him fast. I’d want to finish him with a minute left in the fight after I’ve elbowed him 700 times. I want to disfigure him.” This rivalry is pure fire, and a Spain showdown could be the UFC’s biggest event in years.
Pimblett’s Take on Topuria’s Win and Their Feud
Topuria’s first-round knockout of Oliveira at T-Mobile Arena made him a two-division champ, and his callout for Pimblett set the stage for drama. Pimblett, watching cageside, broke down the fight, saying:
“I said before when he was walking out, I said Charles looks nervous and I thought Ilia looked very calm. I think that made the difference in the first round. I think if Charles might have got through the first round, it might have been a little bit different. But he never got out of there as we seen.” He gave props to Topuria’s skills, noting, “He’s got brilliant boxing, he’s got very good hands. He’s got power. When he swings them hooks, you need to get out of the f*cking way.”
But Pimblett’s motivated by the doubters.
“I’m more motivated when I’m like that, especially the fact that everyone thinks I’ll lose,” he said. “Everyone thinks that I’ll lose, nine out of 10 people probably think he’ll knock me out. I love proving people wrong. It just gives me this warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Just making people eat their own words.” He even took a shot at Arman Tsarukyan, saying, “Tsarukyan, you can go and weigh in as an alternate again. You little bitch.” Pimblett’s eyeing the title, adding, “Looks like I could end up being the champion before I expected it.”
Their beef goes back to 2022 at UFC London, where things got physical. Pimblett recalled:
“He came over to me in London and he tried to jump me, to be honest. I was on my own. It’s a good job though, none of my team were there because if we was, it would have been a proper gang brawl. One of my teammates would have knocked his brother out and shit like that. He just come up to me and said something and he tried to punch me. I stepped out of the way, picked the hand sanitizer up, bounced it off his head and in all the commotion, nothing happened. Nothing happened after it.”
Social media made it worse. Pimblett clarified a misunderstanding, saying:
“I said shut up, you fake Russian and he didn’t like it. Ilia tries to say I was happy that bombs got dropped on Georgia when I never even knew they’d been to war. I’d never say nothing like that. When he didn’t like the fact that I mentioned Russia, I said back to Guram ‘shut up, no wonder the Russians terrorized your lives.’ That’s nothing to do with war in my eyes. That’s just something I said. Ilia still to this day, he said on the Joe Rogan podcast, he said ‘Paddy said he’s happy bombs got dropped in Georgia and kids died.’ I never said that at all.” via MMAFighting
The bad blood is real, and both fighters want to settle it.
IT’S GETTING HEATED 😱 #UFC317
Is Ilia Topuria vs Paddy Pimblett next?! pic.twitter.com/sWIEMbquQi
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) June 29, 2025
Topuria, 16-0, born in Georgia and raised in Spain, joined the UFC in 2020. He knocked out Alexander Volkanovski (UFC 298, February 2024) and Max Holloway (UFC 308, October 2024), winning and defending the featherweight title before grabbing the lightweight belt at UFC 317. A Real Madrid fan, he did the ceremonial kickoff at Bernabeu in February 2024, backed by Sergio Ramos, per The Athletic. Pimblett, 23-3, is on a nine-fight win streak, with his latest a TKO over Michael Chandler at UFC 314 on April 12, 2025, using leg kicks and a knee for a third-round stoppage. Dana White called him “the real deal,”.
Jon Anik called Pimblett “elite” after his Chandler win and Megan Olivi backed a 2025 Spain event. A Bernabeu fight could draw 85,000 fans, rivaling the UFC’s biggest shows.
Topuria and Pimblett are headed for a collision. Topuria’s ready for December 2025, and Pimblett’s itching to prove the doubters wrong. A Santiago Bernabeu fight could be the UFC’s biggest European event since McGregor’s Dublin days.
