For a long time, Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett’s heated rivalry was restricted to social media, interviews and rare backstage confrontations. A fight between them isn’t far-fetched now that Topuria moved to lightweight and Pimblett signed a major bout agreement for UFC 314.
Pimblett’s fanfare has outshone his critical reception since his UFC debut four years ago. A first-round submission win over Bobby Green closed the gap between his commercial and critical viability. Pimblett is gearing up for the biggest fight of his career, a chance to enter the UFC’s top 10 at lightweight by beating Michael Chandler in Miami on April 12.
Former UFC featherweight champion Topuria shockingly vacated his title last month to prepare for a move up to lightweight. While Topuria had long discussed a full-time transition to 155 pounds, the move felt premature after beating Alexander Volkvanoski and notching one title defense against Max Holloway.
Pimblett will clear most of the obstacles to booking the fight by beating Chandler, though both rivals agree a UFC lightweight title fight takes precedence. While Pimblett welcomes an eventual showdown with Topuria, he warns that his enemy made a poor choice.
“I was thinking, ‘Wow, you’re f—ing stupid,” Pimblett told CBS Sports. “Why have you moved up to this division?’ He’s tiny. He’s about 5-foot-5 or 5-foot-6. I don’t understand. He has the audacity to call me fat when he’s saying he can’t make 145 anymore and he’s a midget.”
Pimblett believes Topuria “ran” from the featherweight division. He estimates that Volkanovski would perform better against Topuria in a rematch, having ample recovery time compared to the brief four months he took off between the Islam Makhachev and Topuria KO losses. Pimblett also thinks Topuria is fleeing from tough title challengers like Diego Lopes and Movsar Evloev.
“I would have had a lot more respect for Ilia if he defended that belt twice,” Pimblett said. “Then I think he could have kept his belt, not have to vacate it and move up to fight Islam or whoever has the belt at the time.
“I don’t think he deserves a straight [lightweight] title shot and I don’t think the UFC do either. I think he’ll have to fight someone in the top three if he wants a title shot.”
Check out the full interview with Paddy Pimblett below.
While Pimblett chastizes Topuria’s decision, he acknowledges that it’s a sign of the times. Reigning champions Dricus du Plessis, Belal Muhammad and Makhachev have all expressed interest in super fights. Pimblett argues that consecutive title defenses are more valuable to one’s legacy than becoming a two-division champion.
He named Jon Jones, George St-Pierre, Anderson Silva and Demetrious Johnson as his Mount Rushmore of mixed martial arts. Jones and GSP won titles in two weight classes, but Pimblett argues the quartet’s many title defenses set them apart.
“I think it’s the Conor McGregor effect. Everyone wants to be Conor McGregor,” Pimblett said, noting that McGregor was the first UFC fighter to become a simultaneous two-division champion. “Ilia Topuria is the worst for it. He’s copied McGregor’s chest tattoo and back tattoo. He wants to be Conor McGregor, but you can’t be Conor McGregor when you have the charisma of a tin of beans.
“Belal Muhammad doesn’t even have a title defense and he’s talking about moving up, isn’t he? It’s madness.”
Read the full article here
