Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

‘It Should Be Me To Welcome Him’ – UFC fighter Adamant To Be Ilia Topuria’s First Go At Lightweight

Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Paddy Pimblett is set to take on Michael Chandler at UFC 314 for the co-main event of the evening, and is a -135 favorite to win the fight according to BetMGM. The Brit sits at number 12th on the lightweight list and has an overall record of 22-3-0. He made his UFC debut on September of 2021 and is currently on a six-fight win streak, defeating fighters such as Tony Ferguson, King Green, and Jared Gordon. Pimblett is one of the most dangerous fighters that’s on the come up and has finished 4 out of his 6 fights in the UFC so far.

As entertaining as he is inside the octagon, Pimblett is also know for his charismatic personality off the cage as he is quick in responding and trash talking other fighters and fans. He is not scared to voice out his opinions and that has gained him a massive following on Instagram and quickly made him a fan favorite.

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Even though “The Baddy,” is supposed to take on a formidable opponent in Michael Chandler, he already has plans and wishes to fight the new lightweight division fighter. Let’s see who that is.

Paddy Pimblett Wants To Welcome Ilia Topuria to the Lightweight Division With a Fight

Pimblett wants to take on Ilia Topuria for a non-title fight, after the Michael Chandler fight at UFC 314.

“I would love to fight the lad. I’ve been saying it for years, I’d love to fight him, and now that he’s moved up to 155, it would be a possibility.” The Baddy continued “It looks like he’s just sitting out, waiting for Islam (Makhachev) but I personally think that I should be the one to welcome him to the lightweight division. It’s got a built in storyline… It wouldn’t need a title on that pay-per-view… It wouldn’t need any other fight. It would sell itself. Wouldn’t need any hype cause I’ve already bounced heads.”

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Will Topuria Be Willing To Take On Pimblett?

While Pimblett is very interested in taking on Topuria and welcoming him to the lightweight division, Topuria may have no interest in taking on the Brit. The Georgian and his team have made it very clear that they want to fight Makhachev for the lightweight title straight away. The problem with the title fight is that, the champ and his team are unwilling to fight Topuria as they want the former featherweight champ to fight some lightweight contenders first.

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Paddy Pimblett greeted Ilia Topuria during the #UFCLondon ceremonial weigh-ins.

The two previously shared a rivalry.

(via @ufcontnt, h/t @PaddyTheBaddy) pic.twitter.com/sYRpIc5eXU
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 21, 2025

Makhachev’s three title defense fights have come against former/current featherweight fighters, and he simply doesn’t want to take on another lightweight fighter. There is a lot of chaos going on in the lightweight division and we cannot be sure about who Topuria may take on next. However, since most fighters in 155 do not want to take on Topuria and Pimblett is the only one who’s ready to fight him, there might be a chance that we see Dana White set up a fight in the future between the two, provided that Topuria doesn’t get to fight for the belt right away.

Ilia Topuria goes OFF on Paddy Pimblett 😳

“He said something ‘now I understand why the Russians put the bombs in Georgia.’

…Make sure we don’t find each other anywhere because I’m gonna take your f***ing head off.”

🎥 @fullsendpodcast #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/BdM0VjBoBY
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 13, 2025

The two also have somewhat of a beef in the past, as we saw them going at it, verbally, in the UFC 282 press conference.

Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria had a heated verbal exchange 😳 #UFC282 pic.twitter.com/cgqzyQjxn0
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) December 9, 2022

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Ilia Topuria

Paddy Pimblett

UFC

Eric Divakaran

nba

nfl

mma

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