Sean O’Malley weighs in on Ilia Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett rumors and shares his verdict

A massive showdown between former lightweight champion Ilia Topuria and Brit superstar Paddy Pimblett is rumored for December, with rumors swirling online. Recently, former bantamweight Sean O'Malley weighed in and shared his prediction on the same. 

Sean O’Malley gives Paddy Pimblett the edge over Ilia Topuria 

In his latest YouTube video, O’Malley and his coach, Tim Welch, discussed many current MMA news topics. At one point, Welch mentioned the ongoing rumors that Topuria might fight Pimblett in December. 

O’Malley emphasized that it would be a huge matchup, as it will mark Topuria’s return after a huge setback against Justin Gaethje at White House, where he lost his lightweight title and suffered a career-first loss. Fans want to see if he will return to the greatness he has consistently shown inside the octagon. 

“Oh! Wowzers,” O’Malley exclaimed. “That would be huge. That’d be in Vegas, probably. That would be sick. That’d be a massive f**king fight. Even Ilia coming off this loss, that would be a massive f**king fight.”

However, O’Malley slightly gave the edge to Pimblett, pointing out Topuria's loss, and expressed skepticism that the Spaniard will have the same mental state he had when he was undefeated. 

“Right now, I’d probably lean towards Paddy,” O’Malley said in the video. “I don’t know. It’s hard to say. That seems like a coin flip for me. It’s hard to see where Ilia is at mentally,” O'Malley said.

The former bantamweight champion feels that Topuria will come back stronger, but believes Pimblett is riding with huge confidence after his recent victory, and said that the Brit would be a huge test for the former lightweight champion, pointing out the physicality. 

“I still think he’s going to come back and just going to tear to bits, but Paddy’s also so f**king big, confident. He’s a f**king scowzer, and scowzers don’t get knocked out. “They would look like completely different weight classes. Paddy looks like a 70; Ilia looks like a fifty-fiver, just because the height, but like thickness. Ilia is fifty-five, but he’s just not very tall, man,” O'Malley continued.

Check out Sean O'Malley's comments below:

Topuria was left in a bloodbath against Gaethje at White House. After the fourth round, his corner stopped the fight. He suffered a broken nose and orbital fractures in both eyes. However, his recent photos seemed to indicate that he has now healed the injury, but his return after such a setback, given that it was his first defeat, has raised questions that will now be answered when he steps back inside the octagon next time. 

Meanwhile, Pimblett suffered his first UFC career loss to the same man Topuria lost to, Gaethje. The Brit faced him at UFC 324 in a back-and-forth battle, and he lost via unanimous decision. He bounced back from the defeat and delivered a career-best performance by submitting Benoit Saint Denis in under a minute at UFC 329. 

Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett’s long-standing feud makes the potential fight even more intriguing

Topuria and Pimblet have a storyline that makes the match more interesting, as they are bitter rivals. 

The rivalry's biggest chapter happened during UFC London fight week in March 2022, when the Spaniard and his entourage confronted a solo Pimblett in a hotel kitchen over online comments. After Pimblett hurled a bottle of hand sanitizer at Topuria's head, Topuria retaliated with punches before security intervened. 

Since then, they have continued to take shots at each other. Over the years, they have also emerged as the biggest superstars of the UFC, and the promotion will likely make this fight this year or in the near future.