Paddy Pimblett predicts victory over Ilia Topuria, shares gameplan for their potential fight: "He's good but I'd still beat him"
Paddy Pimblett still believes he can beat Ilia Topuria, despite the Spaniard's recent terrific run of form. 'The Baddy' is coming off an impressive first-round submission win over Bobby Green, and recently uploaded a video to his official YouTube channel, where he addresses Topuria.
Fans did not take kindly to Pimblett's previous claims of being able to beat Topuria, and in his recent response video, he only doubled down.
"Quite funny how I've seen people on my YouTube, people saying... like some people are offended that I said I'd beat Ilia [Topuria]. What do you expect? Think I'm gonna sit here and go, 'Oh yeah, he'd beat me, him.' I'm not a hater. He's good, but I'd still beat him. Styles make fights. People can laugh all they want because I hope one day we do get to fight, and then I can say, 'I told you so.' Just like I did it after I subbed Bobby Green in the first round."
Check out Paddy Pimblett's take on facing Ilia Topuria (9:06):
For now, though, the two men are on vastly different career paths. First, Pimblett fights at lightweight, have just barely cracked the top 15, where he sits at #14. While his win over Green was impressive, he has a tremendous amount of work before he can even think of fighting Topuria.
Second, Topuria is at featherweight, where he is the current champion, having just ufc-knockout-month-october-2024-ilia-topuria-s-stunning-left-hook-hand-max-holloway-first-ever-ko-loss" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-is-sponsored="false">knocked out two of the division's greatest-ever fighters in Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski in back-to-back fights. If he ever does fight at lightweight again, it will likely be for the title.
Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett have history
Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett are currently embroiled in a heated feud. The animosity between both men stem from tone-deaf comments Pimblett made about Russia's past invasion of Georgia, which angered many Georgians on the UFC roster, especially Topuria, who attacked him at a fighter hotel.
Check out the Ilia Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett scuffle:
While the melee didn't lead to much, it sparked a personal clash between both men. They haven't, however, crossed paths since, with the UFC likely keeping them away from each other to avoid risking a brawl.