Talk about changing the landscape! Enter Ilia Topuria’s bombastic decision to vacate his 145lbs kingdom and bet on himself in the shark-infested waters of the lightweight division. Just imagine the symphony of violence and the dream match-ups to be made! However, this is a headache UFC matchmakers would wanna entertain any day of the year. But it seems that surging 155fer Paddy Pimblett isn’t exactly thrilled by the idea of ‘El Matador’ making the jump. In a recent interview, the Liverpudlian downplayed Topuria’s chances of succeeding at 155 pounds.

Ever since Dana White announced that the Spanish-Georgian would be vacating the featherweight belt, Pimblett has been skeptical about the move. He’s questioned whether Topuria made the decision willingly or if he was somehow pressured to relinquish the title. While Topuria had expressed his ambition to become a two-division champion, the Englishman doubts that Dana White was ready to let that dream unfold just yet.

Paddy also doesn’t believe that Topuria’s aspirations of becoming a lightweight champion will come to fruition, largely due to his size. According to the verbose contender, Topuria simply doesn’t have the physical frame to compete effectively at 155 pounds. In fact, Pimblett goes a step further. He predicted that a fight between Topuria and reigning champion Islam Makhachev would be a one-sided affair. In addition, the Dagestani juggernaut would easily get the better of the to-be-soon former featherweight champion and possibly put him to sleep in a rather dominant performance.

“I don’t understand why he’s moved up. He’s tiny… If he fights Islam, he’ll get manhandled and he’ll get submitted,” the English fighter stated on the 560 WQAM podcast. “I think I’ll also manhandle him… He’s got good boxing [and] he’s got power in his hands. We’ll have to see how the power transfers into ‘155 because he’s fighting bigger men. And if I fought him, I’ll just kick him around the cage until he comes down and submit him.”

However, Pimblett didn’t just take a jibe at Ilia Topuria’s lightweight move. In addition, he also sent a warning to the top lightweight fighters in the division, including Dustin Poirier. When the Liverpudlian made his way into the UFC as a 26-year-old former Cage Warriors champion, he made quite the buzz racking up a winning streak. But things changed when he fought Jared Gordon and earned a controversial win.

That performance really put Pimblett in a tough spot, but he has managed to remain unbeaten in the promotion. With a 6-0 record, ‘The Baddy’ plans to inject some new blood and thrill into the top 5 and clear the current batch of fighters in the coming months and years.

“I’m into fighting who’s ranked above me. Dustin Poirier is a legend… If he wants to get beat up, I’ll beat him up because I think he’s another person I can beat, like, most of the top five in my division are on the way out. They’re getting old. And I just know that this is a young man’s sport,” Paddy Pimblett added. Meanwhile, the Englishman has already made up his mind about his plans. Here’s what the 30-year-old had to say!

Paddy Pimblett plans to call out Ilia Topuria among other lightweights

Despite losing more than winning in the UFC, there’s no doubt how tough a challenge Michael Chandler could prove to be for Paddy Pimblett. But judging by what the Liverpudlian had to say, he seemed to be in no worry at all about the former Bellator champion. Moreover, he is looking forward to using Chandler and making an emphatic statement.

He emphasized that Dustin Poirier is on his way out after his swansong. And may very well not go for a fight against him. But Pimblett still plans to bring up his name. Additionally, the Englishman also plans to call out division mainstay Charles Oliveira and the aforementioned Ilia Topuria in the aftermath of his UFC 314 fight.

“When I beat Chandler. I’ll probably mention Poirier, mention Charles, mention Ilia… Again, I think I’d beat Dustin Poirier, but I can understand where he’s coming from,” Paddy Pimblett said. “If he’s only having one more fight, then I wouldn’t fight me either because you don’t wanna finish your career on a loss. And you wanna try and get as much money as you possibly can.”

Paddy Pimblett, despite one bad performance, is slowly and surely getting to the title contention spot. But it’s one step at a time as he butts heads with a desperate Michael Chandler. For the unversed, the Missouri native is 1-3 in his last four fights. So how will this clash of generations go? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!