{"id":20490,"date":"2025-02-13T17:59:47","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T16:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?p=20490"},"modified":"2025-02-13T17:59:51","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T16:59:51","slug":"hes-not-conor-mcgregor-paddy-pimblett-weighs-in-on-ilia-topuria-moving-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/hes-not-conor-mcgregor-paddy-pimblett-weighs-in-on-ilia-topuria-moving-up\/","title":{"rendered":"‘He’s Not Conor McGregor’ – Paddy Pimblett Weighs In On Ilia Topuria Moving Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UFC’<\/a>s dual-champion era kicked off when Conor McGregor shocked the world in 2016, becoming the first fighter to hold two belts simultaneously. The Irish superstar’s leap from featherweight to lightweight glory sparked a trend that changed the game forever. Fans have watched champions like Amanda Nunes dominate two divisions, Daniel Cormier make history at heavyweight, and Henry Cejudo dance between weight classes.<\/p>

Fresh off his spectacular run at featherweight, newly crowned champion Ilia Topuria has been making waves about moving up. After dethroning Alexander Volkanovski and defending against Max Holloway, ‘El Matador’ has set his sights on lightweight king Islam Makhachev.<\/p>

But not everyone is buying the hype train tickets just yet, especially not Liverpool’s own Paddy Pimblett. The timing of this call-out is particularly interesting, considering Makhachev just broke the UFC lightweight record with his fourth title defense, submitting Renato Moicano at UFC 311.<\/p>

Also Read: Dustin Poirier Goes Back And Forth With Nate Diaz And Paddy Pimblett For His Last Dance<\/a><\/strong><\/p>

Paddy Pimblett Puts The Brakes On Topuria’s Plans<\/h2>

The always outspoken “Baddy” isn’t convinced Topuria has earned his shot at lightweight greatness. Pimblett, who’s built quite a following with his charismatic personality and impressive 6-0 UFC run, pointed out that one title defense isn’t enough to warrant such a bold move.<\/p>

He argues that the traditional path required around three successful defenses before even considering a weight class jump. Unlike McGregor, who had the star power to bend these unwritten rules, Pimblett believes Ilia Topuria needs to put in more work at featherweight first.<\/p>

\n

“I can’t see Ilia fighting Islam. He’s only defended the belt once. Normally you need to defend the belt like three times, and he’s not that big of a star to jump. He’s not (Conor) McGregor to just jump right up and fight for the other belt,” <\/em><\/strong>Pimblett said on the Blood Red podcast.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>

\n