Sean O’Malley is leaning toward Paddy Pimblett in a possible fight with Ilia Topuria, but the matchup itself remains only a rumor.
O’Malley’s coach, Tim Welch, said he is hearing rumblings about the longtime rivals meeting in December. The discussion immediately turned from whether the fight could happen to how Topuria might respond after the first loss of his professional career.
Tim Welch is hearing rumors ILIA TOPURIA vs. PADDY PIMBLETT could happen in December
Tim: “Paddy is coming off a huge win. He’s confident, he’s huge. Ilia is coming off the worst beating he’s ever taken.”
Sean: “Right now, I would lean towards Paddy to win.”
— FightLuck (@FightluckBet) August 31, 2026
Welch introduced the possibility carefully rather than presenting it as a completed UFC booking.
“Rumor has it, though, that, I mean, I’m seeing rumblings of it, that in December, Ilia Topuria versus Paddy Pimblett.”
O’Malley responded to the scale of the matchup before making a prediction.
“Wowzers. That would be huge. That’d be in Vegas, probably. That would be sick. That’d be a massive fucking fight. Even Ilia coming off this loss, that would be a massive fucking fight.”
O’Malley Gives Pimblett A Narrow Edge
Welch asked O’Malley to make the choice concrete, then framed the factors behind it.
“If someone gave you 10K to bet, who are you putting it on in that? Right now? Realistically, no bias. We like them both. Paddy versus Ilia. Paddy’s coming off a big win. He’s confident. He’s huge. Ilia’s coming off the worst beating he’s ever taken.”
O’Malley leaned toward Pimblett but described the matchup as close, focusing on Topuria’s mental recovery and Pimblett’s size and confidence.
“Right now, I’d probably lean towards Paddy. I don’t know. It’s hard to say. That seems like a coin flip for me. It’s hard to see where Ilia’s at mentally. He could be—I still think he’s going to come back and just go on a tear—but it’s like Paddy’s also so fucking big, confident. He’s a fucking Scouser, and Scousers don’t get knocked out.”
No December Fight Has Been Announced
Pimblett strengthened his position with a fast submission win at UFC 329 and later revealed that his cage-night weight reached 190 pounds. That size is central to the argument Welch and O’Malley made.
Topuria is coming off his title loss to Justin Gaethje, a result that also produced a major bonus haul for the new champion. More recently, Dan Hooker questioned whether Topuria would take another dangerous fight immediately.
The history between Topuria and Pimblett makes the rumor easy to understand, but there is still no official opponent, event, or contract. Welch reported rumblings; O’Malley offered a pick; the UFC has not announced the fight.
