Paddy Pimblett: "Id beat Ilia Topuria as fast as McGregor beat Aldo"

Paddy Pimblett doesn’t believe a fight against Ilia Topuria would be competitive.

Pimblett and Topuria are two of the top prospects in the lightweight division. Despite both navigating different stages of their career, the pair have been on a collision course for the past few years. What started as a disagreement online quickly turned into something fierce, and worsened with a physical altercation at UFC London in 2022. Since then, Pimblett and Topuria have constantly attacked each other in interviews, and the feud shows no signs of slowing down.

As he sits and waits for his next opponent to emerge, Paddy Pimblett has reignited the fire between himself and Ilia Topuria. Pimblett doesn’t consider Topuria a tough matchup, and sees himself sending the former UFC lightweight champion back down to featherweight if a fight materializes.

“I have no fight booked at the minute; I would love to fight Ilia Topuria,” Pimblett said. “I’ll beat him that bad, I’ll send him back down to featherweight.”

Dismissive of Ilia Topuria’s ability, Paddy Pimblett thinks the fight would go similarly to Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo: a 13-second finish.

But Pimblett isn’t satisfied just fighting Topuria. The Brit wants to host the new season of The Ultimate Fighter alongside the Georgian. Expecting the season of TUF to aid in his performance against Topuria, Pimblett has rallied for the opportunity.

“I think me and Ilia Topuria would be a brilliant season of The Ultimate Fighter,” Pimblett continued. “Because I’d get under his skin so much that when we come into the fight, I’d beat him just as fast as McGregor beat Aldo.”

“It’ll be a brilliant press conference. As I say, The Ultimate Fighter would be a very entertaining six weeks, to say the least, if it was me and him.”

Listen to what Paddy Pimblett said about Ilia Topuria below.