Paddy Pimblett Reveals He Hasn’t Been Offered Ilia Topuria Fight Despite Interest in It
Paddy Pimblett has been looking forward to fighting Ilia Topuria for quite some time now, but the encounter still isn't on the cards.
The beef between Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria has been going on for years now, and the former has no issues settling their differences inside the octagon. Despite Topuria's lightweight title loss, Pimblett doubled down on the same narrative recently, although the UFC has yet to begin negotiations for the encounter.
Pimblett also expressed his desire to take to the octagon once more this year, highlighting multiple top-tier lightweights as his potential opponents.
Paddy Pimblett Highlights All Names on Radar, Including Ilia Topuria
Pimblett had an in-octagon face-off with Topuria after the latter seized the lightweight title at UFC 317, portraying himself as one of the most viable contenders for a title shot. But while Topuria lost the title to Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250, Pimblett still wishes to face the Spaniard inside the octagon.
In a recent interview with DAZN, the Liverpudlian voiced his desire to take on Topuria by jibing at him once more. He said, "I'd love to smash his head in, lad. But we need to wait and see."
Pimblett added that he hasn't heard about any progress regarding the materialization of the encounter. "No one spoke to me about it," said the British lightweight.
Pimblett's subsequent comments implied that he isn't much concerned about the Topuria fight. The 31-year-old intended to take to the octagon once more at the end of this year, but showed no preference for his next opponent.
He said, "Arman, Gaethje, Ruffy, Charles, there are loads of names. When I get told who I'm fighting, I'm sure everyone else will know. If I fight again this year, it will be in December, hopefully, but we'll see what happens."
🚨 Paddy Pimblett addressed rumors of him fighting Ilia Topuria next:
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) September 6, 2026
“I’d love to smash head in lad, but we need to wait and see. No one spoke to me about it.
If I fight against this year it’ll be December.”
(via @EzeObasiETS) pic.twitter.com/pmmHBQi3mL
It's quite apparent that Pimblett considers maintaining his winning form much more important than the Topuria fight. However, given that the two have been beefing since 2021, the encounter can be expected to be a barnburner.
Pimblett's priority to keep winning also might change the stakes of the matchup completely. While he faced off with Topuria at UFC 317 as the challenger, he might become the lightweight champion by the time he actually faces his Spanish rival inside the octagon.
