Pimblett: Non-title fight vs. Topuria could headline UFC PPV
UFC lightweight Paddy Pimblett is interested in headlining a pay-per-view event against featherweight champion Ilia Topuria - even if there's no title on the line.
"I'd love to fight the chorizo, lad," Pimblett said Friday at a UFC London Q&A event, according to MMA Junkie. "I've been saying it for years. I'd love to fight him. Now that he's moved up to '55, it's a real possibility.
"It looks like he's just sitting out, waiting for (lightweight champion) Islam (Makhachev), but I personally think I should be the one to welcome him to the lightweight division."
A rivalry formed between Topuria and Pimblett in 2022 when they competed on the same UFC card in London. The two got into an altercation at the fighter hotel in which Pimblett threw a bottle of hand sanitizer at Topuria.
Pimblett said a fight against Topuria wouldn't need to be for a belt to perform well at the box office.
"It's got a built-in storyline," Pimblett said. "It wouldn't need a title on that pay-per-view. Me versus him could just headline the pay-per-view, know what I mean? You wouldn't need any other fight. It'd sell itself."
Their careers have played out in different lanes since the hotel incident, with Topuria running through the 145-pound division en route to a title win in February 2024 and Pimblett slowly rising to contention at 155 pounds. But a matchup between the two became a lot more realistic last month when Topuria decided he'd vacate his title to move up to the lightweight division and pursue a second championship.
Before Pimblett can seriously contemplate a fight with Topuria, though, there's someone he needs to get past first. The 30-year-old Liverpool native is scheduled to face former title challenger Michael Chandler in the UFC 314 co-main event in Miami on April 12.
Regardless, Pimblett is still confident he'd beat Topuria with ease.
"I think it'd be the exact same thing I'm gonna do to Michael Chandler: kick him in the face or submit him," Pimblett said.