Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett just can’t seem to get along. The English fighter made a comment about Georgia and its war with Russia that really rubbed Topuria the wrong way back in 2022. Since then, the two have been at odds, with Topuria even launching a bottle at Pimblett during a London event. This beef has been reignited recently, with both fighters taking shots at each other on social media.
Before rumors started circulating about Topuria possibly moving up to Pimblett’s weight class, the English fighter was more than happy to welcome his arch-nemesis. “Ilia is a dwarf… people don’t understand that I am much bigger than Ilia. If you want to come to lightweight, I’m waiting,” Pimblett said in an interview. However, considering ‘The Baddy’ has just broken into the top 15 after his last victory, he still has some work to do before a potential fight can happen.
The reason Topuria responds to Pimblett despite not being interested in him from a sporting perspective is that he genuinely feels hatred towards him for what he said about his country. In a recent interview with Full Send Podcast, Topuria recalled Pimblett’s comments, saying, “He said some things like ‘Now I understand why Russians bombard Georgia’. Make sure we will not meet somewhere because I am going to start a problem.” It’s clear that Topuria is still fuming about the whole ordeal.
A ‘conflict’ without rest
The relationship between Topuria and Pimblett has gone from bad to worse since 2022, largely due to their constant mutual attacks on social media. The Liverpool fighter has a YouTube channel where he often reacts to Topuria, leaving some harsh comments that have become a constant for almost three years. While ‘The Matador’ aims to become a double champion, for Paddy, it’s still early days. “I can’t imagine Ilia fighting Islam. He has only defended the belt once…”, Pimblett said in an interview with ‘Liverpool FC News’.
Pimblett always tries to find a negative connotation in each of Topuria’s successes, saying “He’s not a star as big as to jump categories without more, Topuria is not McGregor.” Being realistic, the two fighters won’t be facing each other anytime soon, as Ilyia is opting for the highest level of competition, whether it’s champions or title contenders. Meanwhile, the microphone acts as an intermediary between them, settling the foundations of a fight that would go far beyond the 25 minutes they would share in the octagon.
