With UFC London taking place this coming Saturday, the card is missing one of the promotions top British stars, Paddy Pimblett.
The 28-year-old known as “The Baddy” has been away from action since last December as he injured his ankle in his close fight with Jared Gordon. Since then, both fans and Gordon have made it clear they desire the rematch— however Pimblett (20-3) has other plans. Plans that involved Ilia Topuria.
Rewind to UFC Fight Night 204 when the two got into a physical altercation at the fighter hotel, after a war of words between them online. Despite the rivalry, Pimblett and Topuria have never actually been booked to fight each other with the Georgian now marginally close to a title shot.
Since then, Topuria has moved back to his natural weight class, featherweight, where he has recorded back-to-back wins near the top of the rankings. Pimblett on the other hand went on to beat Jordan Leavitt and also edge the aforementioned Gordon.
During his time out on the sidelines, lightweights have been calling Paddy’s name as a fight they want next. At the UFC London Q&A, Pimblett joked about this, as well as the idea of him coaching a season of “The Ultimate Fighter” against Ilia Topuria.
“I’m just waiting to see when I come back. Obviously [Matt] Frevola’s a nice one, he called me out but I think about 12 people have called me out in a post fight interview. But we’ll see what happens in the future.
“I’d love to do a season of The Ultimate Fighter with Ilia Topuria, I reckon that’d be hilarious,” Pimblett said.
Topuria’s last fight came against Josh Emmett, who he utterly dominated over five rounds of action, marking himself as the next in line for Alexander Volkanovski. Pimblett gave Topuria credit for his performance, but scoffed at the opponent it came against.
“He looked good, do you know what I mean? He did, he looked good. He couldn’t finish someone who’s going to retire soon [Emmett]. Josh Emmett’s like 39 isn’t he? I could finish Josh Emmett in my sleep.”
