Paddy Pimblett He is a Liverpool fan (Photo: Reproduction/Twitter)
One of the most popular fighters in the UFC, Paddy Pimblett doesn't seem to be happy about the possibility of Ilia Topuria move up in weight. While still looking for a big fight to move up in the lightweight rankings (up to 70,3 kg), the Englishman publicly criticized the Georgian/Spanish's intentions to seek his second belt in a fight against Islam makhachev.
For Pimblett, Topuria's resume at featherweight (65,7 kg.) is not extensive enough to justify a division change. In addition, he questioned the commercial potential of the fighter, who has more than 6,5 million followers on Instagram.
“He only defended the belt once, normally you have to defend the belt like three times. And he’s not a big star, he’s not Conor McGregor to just jump in and fight for the other belt, so I can't see that happening personally," Pimblett said in an interview with the British podcast 'Blood Red' last Friday (7).
Pimblett also addressed rumors of a rematch between Ilia Topuria e Alexander Volkanovsky, supposedly scheduled for the main fight of the UFC 314, which will take place in Miami on April 12th.
“We’ll see what happens. I heard Ilia will be headlining the UFC 314 against Volk, but you don't know anything until it's finalized with the UFC. I've been told this and that over the last few weeks and months, but we'll see what happens."
Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria had episodes of rivalry
Paddy Pimblett e Ilia Topuria discussed at the press conference UFC 282 (Photo: Playback/YouTube)
the paths of Ilia Topuria e Paddy Pimblett crossed paths when they were both just young up-and-coming fighters, in December 2022. At the time, the two exchanged barbs in the media and came close to physical violence. The Englishman, who has won eight straight matches, still has no position in the lightweight rankings (up to 70,3 kg). Some time ago, there was speculation about a fight with Michael chandler, not yet confirmed by the company.
Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett got into a bit of a dust-up during #UFCLondon fight week
(via @Topuriailia) pic.twitter.com/FnXh1AKijE
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) March 15, 2022
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