The UFC lightweight division has a new rivalry for fans to keep their eyes on.
Newly crowned lightweight champion Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett clearly do not like each other. At all.
The rivalry between the two began online that then led to an altercation at the fighter hotel in London at UFC Fight Night 304 in March 2022.
Later in 2022, the two fighters almost came to blows at a UFC 282 press conference.
Following UFC 317, Pimblett entered the cage to challenge Topuria on the spot. Their ‘face-off’ ended with Topuria shoving Pimblett.
In his post-fight interview, Topuria stated that he wanted to face Pimblett next. Topuria made it very clear that he wanted Pimblett to be his first title defense.
In an interview with “Verse Us with Eric Nicksick,” Pimblett explained the beginnings of their feud and his disdain for Topuria.
“When I first signed with the UFC, his friend, who is now being cut from the UFC because he is shite, Guram Kutateladze, or however you say his name. He just tweeted something at me and I just said back. He said like how welcome to the UFC. And I went, ‘Who the f**k are you talking to? You’re a fake Russian’ because he had a baldy head and the beard,” Pimblett recalled.
Pimblett believes that those comments he made were taken out of context.
“It still annoys me to this day because he even went on Rogan (The Joe Rogan Experience podcast) and said it to Topuria. He (Joe Rogan) said, ‘You know, Paddy says it’s good that Russia dropped bombs on Georgia and killed children.’ In ever said that. I never said anything like that,” Pimblett said.
“I’d never celebrate someone, people getting killed especially kids. And I don’t know. It must be a language barrier where I said terrorize but by ours that’s just like you’ve been bullied. Terrorize is just a word we use every day,” continued Pimblett. “I don’t know where the language barrier is you think that means war but if it is go and learn properly English Ilia because it’s not.”
On the flip side, Pimblett simply just cannot stand Topuria.
“I hate him. I absolutely hate him. Like, I want to inflict pain on his life. You know what I mean? I’d like that fight to go 4 minutes and 50 seconds into the fifth round and I’ve landed 907 elbows, and I’ve disfigured his face. I don’t want a quick knockout. I want to put him through pain.”
The match will eventually happen, but it remains to be seen when and where. It will be interesting to see how the rivalry plays out.
