What if we told you that we were closer to Ilia Topuria vs. Conor McGregor than we knew? The last time the pair were in each other’s punching range was at UFC 264 in July 2021, a card they shared. “Just a terrible energy. I swear it felt like his aura came from hell. I wanted to be away from this dude, he had a black energy I have never felt before,” is what Topuria had to say about the night McGregor broke his leg and stepped away from the cage indefinitely.

Since then, their relationship has become sour, but there is a new development on the horizon! During the much-anticipated Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show #166, Topuria gave a huge hint at what might come next in his fight career. As per Home of Fight: “Ilia Topuria reveals that he was in talks to fight Conor McGregor potentially, but the fight seemed to fall apart. Topuria confirms he would agree to the fight if it were offered to him right now.”

Well, Rogan asked him, “Like the UFC, calls up and says, ‘I know you want a world title fight, and we guarantee you a world title fight after this.“ The former featherweight champ said that the fight was in talks but might have fallen off. However, Topuria did not give a confirmed hint. He said, “Actually, we had that talk a little bit. I don’t know …you know how the UFC is, they are very specific. Don’t say anything. To no one.” As soon as Topuria flirted with the idea of fighting McGregor before he got a chance with Islam Makhachev, Rogan said jokingly, “Well, no one’s listening. You can tell everybody.” Topuria went along and said, ” Only a couple of million people are listening. Yeah, if they offer me a fight against Conor right now, we’ll see why not.”

Joe Rogan started the conversation with whether Topuria would fight McGregor at 155 lbs for the world title. The Spanish star mistook his question and thought he was talking about a fight with the Irishman before the lightweight title clash against Makhachev. The UFC color commentator clarified and talked about a fight against McGregor before the showdown with the Dagestani champ. Surprisingly, ‘La Leyenda‘ was pretty inclined towards that! The numbers would be great as per Rogan. A fight with the ‘golden goose’, despite his lack of appearance inside the Octagon, will definitely be lucrative for Topuria.

However, the Spaniard also mentioned that right now he was more interested in fighting Paddy Pimblett, who just defeated Michael Chandler with a massive KO  at UFC 314. What about Pimblett, though? Did he call out Topuria’s name while challenging every other top fighter in lightweight, champion included?

Paddy Pimblett accuses Ilia Topuria of copying Conor McGregor

‘The Baddy’ called out Makhachev along with Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira, and Arman Tsarukyan during the Octagon interview at UFC 314. But what about the new entry, Ilia Topuria? Well, the Scouser said that he simply forgot about him. During the post-fight presser, he said, “To be honest, I forgot about him. I forgot all about him, or I would have mentioned him in the cage, know what I mean. I don’t call the man ‘Sanitizer Boy’ anymore, he’s now ‘El Chorizo’, but as I say, I forgot all about him. That’s how irrelevant he is. I’m ranked higher than he is at lightweight, so I’d love to welcome him to 155, but apparently, he’s sitting out and waiting for the title shot.” Pimblett and Topuria have had an ongoing rivalry, including a public feud in March 2022 in which Pimblett threw a bottle of hand sanitizer at Topuria.

Before Pimblett secured the UFC 314 win, he spoke about Topuria’s move to lightweight in March and confessed his stance. Pimblett was not impressed by the plan and mentioned that he was copying his former ‘idol’ McGregor. “I think it’s the Conor McGregor effect,” Pimblett said to Shak MMA. “Everyone wants to be Conor McGregor. Ilia Topuria’s the worst for it. He copied his chest tattoo and his back tattoo and all that, he just wants to be Conor McGregor, but you can’t be Conor McGregor when you’ve got the charisma of a tin of beans, so it’s one of them.”

MMA Fans do agree with Pimblett on the tattoo imitation part, so do you agree with him? Do you think Topuria wants to imitate McGregor’s legacy? Share your comments on this below.