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Paddy Pimblett has the utmost confidence that he’s the man to beat UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria.
Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) faced off with Pimblett in the octagon immediately after knocking out Charles Oliveira to claim the vacant belt at UFC 317 in June. Arman Tsarukyan and Justin Gaethje were also in attendance for that fight.
Pimblett (22-4 MMA, 7-0 UFC) hasn’t been guaranteed the title shot, but if he is granted that opportunity, he has a bold prediction of how their fight would go.
“I’d absolutely smash his face in for him,” Pimblett said in an interview with James Sweetnam. “I can see me beating him anywhere the fight goes, to be honest. People put him on a pedestal now. They think he’s this big, amazing thing, when I’ll bring him crashing back down to earth in a big way.”
Pimblett and Topuria’s rivalry stems from a hotel altercation during a UFC London fight week in March 2022. They continued to trade barbs during the UFC 282 pre-fight press conference and are finally aligned for a potential fight after Pimblett emerged as a top contender with a dominant TKO of Michael Chandler at UFC 314.
