Ilia Topuria shocked the MMA world on Saturday at UFC 308 when he became the first man to not only drop Max Holloway but to also finish him via KO. Topuria and Holloway went to war in Abu Dhabi in one of the most highly anticipated UFC featherweight title fights of all time, and the ending of the fight cemented the Spaniard as one of the biggest stars and draws in the UFC today — as well as a legitimately elite pound for pound fighter.
Despite Topuria being the reigning champion at featherweight, he is linked with fights against and called out by fighters such as Conor McGregor, Belal Muhammad and Paddy Pimblett who all fight in weight classes 10 to 25 pounds heavier than the featherweight limit. This just shows the current star power of Topuria, that fighters who have no real chance of fighting him, such as McGregor and Muhammad due to their weights, are targeting him.
Out of the names mentioned above, the most realistic fight for Topuria seems to be against the English lightweight star, Pimblett, as the pair have a heated history together which dates back to a physical encounter at UFC London in 2022. Now, ‘The Baddy’ has seemingly tried to reignite the feud between himself and the featherweight champion by giving a prediction on how a fight between himself and the Spaniard would go.
Paddy Pimblett Predicts he Would Defeat Ilia Topuria if they Fought
Pimblett and Topuria wanted to fight each other back in 2022 after a physical altercation
Back in 2022, Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria were caught on camera having a physical altercation at the UFC fighter hotel in London and the footage went viral despite the two not being matched up against each other at that time.
Watch footage of the physical altercation right here:
Despite the incident, the hype of a potential fight between Pimblett and Topuria died down as the Spaniard dropped back down to featherweight and the Brit faced battles with injury and a lacklustre performance. Ever since then, both men have enjoyed success in the UFC. However, Pimblett’s No.15 ranking in the lightweight division does not have anything on what Topuria has been able to achieve at featherweight.
Paddy Pimblett’s Professional MMA Record | ||
|---|---|---|
25 Fights | 22 Wins | 3 Losses |
By Knockout | 6 | 0 |
By Submission | 10 | 1 |
By Decision | 6 | 2 |
Following Topuria’s incredible win over Max Holloway this past weekend, Pimblett seemingly tried to reignite the feud between himself and Topuria by saying “I still think I’d beat him” in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel.
“Well done, Ilia. Give you your due, lad, 16-0 hand sanitiser boy. I can’t wait for him to come back up to lightweight. I still think I’d beat him, I really do. I still think I beat him, lad.”
Topuria is yet to reply to Pimblett’s comments but with how active he has been on social media, recently firing back at everyone who mentions him, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a response from him very soon.
Further on in the video, Pimblett went on to explain how he’d beat Topuria and even predicted how the fight would end.
“Whether he just beat Max Holloway or not, I still think I’d beat him by kicking him on the feet or taking him down and submitting him, but I genuinely think I’d beat him. Congrats, Ilia Topuria. Well done, son. Congratulations, lad.”
Ilia Topuria’s Professional MMA Record | ||
|---|---|---|
16 Fights | 16 Wins | 0 Losses |
By Knockout | 6 | 0 |
By Submission | 8 | 0 |
By Decision | 2 | 0 |
Even though Topuria and Pimblett are currently competing in different divisions, the Spaniard has expressed his desire to move back up to lightweight soon which could open the door for their beef to finally be settled.