By Ilia Topuria has ramped up his calls for a fight with Paddy Pimblett, saying the Liverpudlian offers “nothing” in the UFC Octagon.
Topuria and Pimblett have held a grudge since 2022, when the Spanish-Georgian confronted “Paddy The Baddy” at a fighter hotel before UFC London. Topuria took issue with tweets posted by Pimblett, which he alleged were of an anti-Georgian sentiment.
Despite their issues, Topuria and Pimblett are yet to clash in the Octagon, although they faced off in the cage in summer 2025, after Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira to win the lightweight belt.
Since that night, Topuria has fought once, losing to Justin Gaethje at the White House in June. Gaethje, who outpointed Pimblett in January to win the interim title, beat Topuria via TKO to unify the lightweight belts.
Pimblett bounced back in July by submitting Benoit Saint-Denis inside one minute, and it looks like Topuria could be next for the Liverpudlian.
Topuria, 29, told ABC in Spain: “Paddy, Paddy, Paddy [is next]… I’ll eat him up like the sausage he is.
“There are no easy opponents, Paddy’s a guy to be reckoned with, but come on. With that head of his, you just aim the punch that way and hit him.
“If you listen to him, he’ll say he beats me at everything, but I beat him at anything I want. After a loss, it’s hard to talk about these things, but Paddy on the ground – just grappling – doesn’t win a single point against me. He doesn’t take me down, he doesn’t pass my guard, he doesn’t do anything. I don’t see him as being any better than me on the ground.
“He’s a pushover, he’s got a sausage body, he thinks his size gives him an advantage, but he can’t do anything.
“He’s not like Justin. Justin is a dog; he knows how to dodge punches, he’s very experienced, and he’s very freestyle. He does things that – to me – are poorly executed, but they’re effective. Paddy has nothing, no knockout punch, no unexpected takedowns, no submissions out of nowhere. Paddy is very predictable, you can see his intentions.”
Against Gaethje, Topuria retired on his stool before the fifth and final round. Topuria had dropped the American with a body shot earlier in the fight, but Gaethje gradually took over the contest and put a beating on “El Matador”. The result marked Topuria’s first loss as a professional.
“Everything can make sense again, of course,” Topuria said. “It’s going out there for my next fight, knocking out Paddy, and everyone’s going to be like: ‘Wow, look how focused Ilia is!’ You’re only as good as your last fight.
“There are still good times ahead, but what matters most to me is getting back to training, feeling healthy and well, and then we’ll be ready for whatever comes up.”
Topuria also said he had “heard some rumours” about serving as a rival coach against Pimblett, 31, on a new series of The Ultimate Fighter. But he added: “I haven’t had any conversations with the UFC. I don’t know what their interests are. When we resume talks with them, we’ll see if we’re on the same page.”
Topuria was a featherweight champion before his lightweight reign, knocking out divisional great Alexander Volkanovski to win the title in 2024. He retained the featherweight belt by knocking out another icon, Max Holloway, before giving up the title in early 2025 to move up to 155lb.
When he returned to the cage, it was to knock out Oliveira, but he lost the lightweight belt during his first defence as Gaethje finally became undisputed champion; the 37-year-old had previously held the interim strap twice.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ilia-topuria-ramps-calls-paddy-165603295.html
