Ilia Topuria has made it clear he wants to fight Paddy Pimblett next. Whether he gets to, remains to be seen.
Topuria and Pimblett notably had an altercation during UFC London fight week and following his emphatic knockout win over Jai Herbert last night, Topuria made sure to call him out.
But while he wants the fight, Topuria isn’t holding his breath either. That’s because he believes Pimblett will never end up fighting him.
“Never,” Topuria said in his post-fight press conference (via MMA Fighting). “Never ever, I don’t think so. Maybe if Dana stayed with him with a gun, maybe yes, and they force him to go inside the cage with me. Maybe. Otherwise, I don’t think so. I don’t think he has the balls to fight me.”
“With Paddy, I don’t give a f*** about any weight class. Even if he want to come and don’t make the weight, I’m gonna fight him. I don’t care about the weight with Paddy.”
Of course, Pimblett would go on to defeat Kazula Vargas later on in the night, and while he did indirectly mention Topuria, he didn’t seem too keen on the idea of facing him next.
“Mr. Hand Sanitizer boy [Ilia Topuria], lions don’t concern themselves with the opinions of sheep.”
Ilia Topuria Happy To Go Back To 145
That wouldn’t surprise Topuria, who was notably making his 155 debut against Herbert.
However, he is more of a natural featherweight and if the Pimblett fight doesn’t end up happening, he’s more than happy to return to 145 pounds where he is ranked unlike the Liverpool native.
“Really, he’s nobody,” Topuria added. “He’s s***. No, he’s nothing. The one who’s ranked is me. Since I take it personally, if the UFC wants it, I can still fight him tonight in that hotel.
“But if it doesn’t happen that way, I want to go back to 145 pounds. I want to go back to that business and finish it.”
Topuria improved to 4-0 in the UFC with his win over Herbert and is 12-0 overall.
