It looks like there’s another rivalry ready to explode in the UFC! Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria’s feud started as a war of words back in 2021. ‘The Baddy’ had made some questionable remarks about Georgia and its war-torn history on social media. Topuria, fiercely proud of his roots, didn’t take it lightly.

Tensions then boiled over during the UFC Fight Night 204 fight week in London in 2022. Both fighters got into an altercation that led to punches and hand sanitizer bottles flying everywhere. While things managed to calm down with the intervention of security, the bad blood lingered. And now, with tensions still high, Paddy Pimblett has laid out his one condition to finally settle the score.

Paddy Pimblett responds to Ilia Topuria with a bold challenge for a showdown

During a recent appearance on the ‘Full Send’ podcast, Ilia Topuria, the reigning featherweight king revealed that he hasn’t forgotten or forgiven Paddy Pimblett for his remarks. And the hype surrounding the Liverpool native?

According to ‘El Matador’, “His hype was like momentanio. In the moment, he has a lot of hype, this and that, but the quality of the fighter he is, man, come on, please. Don’t even compare me to that bum because we are on different levels.”

But this isn’t just about skills inside the cage. For Topuria, it’s personal as he further shared, “He said something, ‘now I understand why the Russians put the bombs in Georgia’, and many kids died in that war…. So when you start to joke about that kind of thing, just make sure that we don’t find each other anywhere because I’m gonna take your f—- head off.”

Pimblett, however, has a different version of events. According to him, Topuria twisted his words to fuel the feud. The no.12 ranked UFC lightweight then claimed that Topuria had every chance to address the issue face-to-face, just as Georgian fighters Giga Chikadze and Merab Dvalishvili did.  And then came the challenge. The one condition that could finally settle this war once and for all.

“If we’re not on the same level, come up to lightweight and fight me if it’ll be so easy,” Pimblett declared.

So, what happens next? Ilia Topuria has already indicated that he’d like to pursue ‘champ-champ’ status by taking on Islam Makhachev, the reigning lightweight king. But according to ‘The Baddy’, the featherweight champion doesn’t command the attention needed to jump straight into a title shot!

Pimblett shuts down Topuria’s ‘champ-champ’ aspirations with a jab at his ‘star power’ 

Ilia Topuria, the undefeated featherweight champion, has made it clear—he wants double gold. He dethroned Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298, then cemented his reign by knocking out Max Holloway at UFC 308. Now, his eyes are on Makhachev’s lightweight throne.

However, Paddy Pimblett isn’t too sure of his chances of being able to secure a fight against the Dagestani warrior. Why? Speaking on the ‘Blood Red’ podcast, Pimblett stated, “I can’t see Ilia fighting Islam. He’s only defended the belt once. Normally you need to defend the belt like three times, and he’s not that big of a star to jump.”

A fair point? Or just another way to downplay a bitter rival? ‘The Baddy’ has commanded the spotlight ever since he made his way to the UFC, but he doesn’t think Topuria has the same pull. He further stated, “So I can’t personally see that happening, but we’ll see what happens. I heard Ilia’s headlining the UFC 314 event against Volk, but you don’t know anything until it’s finalized with the UFC.”

So, where does this leave the fiery rivalry between Pimblett and Topuria? One man is chasing history, the other is demanding a showdown. With tensions still simmering from their past altercations, the stage is set for another explosive chapter. 

Will ‘El Matador’ take ‘The Baddy’s’ challenge and move up to lightweight? Or will Pimblett be left watching as Ilia Topuria carves his own path toward double-champ status? Let us know what you think in the comments below!