Ilia Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett almost felt mandatory when their rivalry first ignited three years ago — and Saturday night at UFC 317, the pair of lightweight stars were brought together once more.
Topuria and Pimblett infamously got into a scuffle at the fighter hotel in March 2022 ahead of that year’s UFC London event. Topuria went on to make his lightweight debut that weekend when he knocked out Jai Herbert in Round 2, while Pimblett scored a first-round rear-naked choke of Kazula Vargas.
Topuria, 28, has now managed to leapfrog Pimblett despite having worked his way to championship status in the featherweight division first. In UFC 317’s main event, “El Matador” starched former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira with a first-round knockout in their vacant title tilt to become a two-division beltholder. The No. 8-ranked contender Pimblett entered the Octagon afterward, at the urging of both Topuria and UFC commentator Joe Rogan, seemingly setting up an impending collision.
“Looks like I could be the champion before I even expected it,” Pimblett said on the UFC 317 post-fight show. “He’s got brilliant boxing, lad. He’s got very good hands. He’s got power. When he swings them hooks, you need to get the f*** out of the way.
“We’ve got history. You don’t even need to sell that fight. It sells itself. Two people who genuinely dislike each other. You don’t really get that. We haven’t seen that since like Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and [Conor] McGregor, two people who actually hate each other. Because I hate him.
“I wouldn’t even want to finish him fast,” Pimblett continued. “I’d want to finish him with a minute left in the fight after I’ve elbowed him 700 times. I want to disfigure him.”
Pimblett, 30, has remained on a steady climb toward the top of the 155-pound division since his hotel run-in with Topuria. “The Baddy” currently sports a nine-fight win streak (seven in UFC), and recently punctuated that stretch with his most significant win yet, a dominant third-round stoppage of one-time title challenger Michael Chandler.
While a genuine grudge match between two of UFC’s biggest personalities would appear to be big business for the promotion, one person who wasn’t such a fan of Saturday’s impromptu faceoff was Dana White. Speaking at UFC 317’s post-fight press conference, the UFC CEO lambasted his promotion’s decision to allow the in-cage faceoff and threw cold water over the potential matchup.
“I don’t know who the hell let him in there,” White said of Pimblett. “That should have never happened. Let’s start there. I was already back in my room or that would have never happened.
“My thing with Topuria, his wife and kid are in the octagon. That’s not the fight. It shouldn’t have happened. That’s not really what we do. … I don’t give a s*** if it was fun to watch or not, that shouldn’t happen. … It was a bad call by whoever the hell let him in there.”
“We’ll see,” White added of the potential showdown. “We’ll see how this plays out.”
Considering Arman Tsarukyan’s status as the No. 1-ranked lightweight contender and Tsarukyan having served as the official backup fighter for UFC 317’s main event, it remains uncertain which direction the UFC goes for Topuria’s first title defense. It wouldn’t be surprising if Tsarukyan is made to secure at least one more win before getting the title shot he lost out on due to last-minute injury ahead of UFC 311 this past January — especially because if the new champion Topuria has it his way, he’ll finally get his hands on Liverpool’s finest.
“Yes, that’s the fight that I want,” Topuria said of Pimblett. “With Paddy, I’m really going to enjoy kicking his ass.
“Someone told me Dana was a little bit angry about that [faceoff]. But [Dana] wasn’t there [to stop it], so that [fight] has to happen.”