Ilia Topuria may have unfinished business with Paddy Pimblett, but the Scouser has shut down the idea of them sharing the Octagon anytime soon.
Both men were involved in an altercation on Tuesday after Topuria confronted Pimblett over past comments he made on social media regarding the Russo-Georgian War in 2008, which the Georgian experienced firsthand. ‘El Matador’ ran into and swung at ‘The Baddy’, who threw a bottle of hand sanitizer in return before they were separated.
Because of the bad blood and now-viral quarrel, a potential fight between Topuria and Pimblett was even more appealing, especially if they earned wins at UFC London on Saturday night. And they did, with Topuria starching Jai Herbert and Pimblett submitting Kazula Vargas. To the surprise of no one, Topuria used his time on the microphone to challenge ‘that blonde b—h’ to a fight, but Pimblett was left unimpressed and uninterested.
“Everyone wants to fight me,” said Pimblett during his post-fight press conference (video provided by MMA Fighting). “Everyone wants to hang on my coattails. No one knew who Ilia Topuria — or ‘hand sanitizer boy’ — was until he tried to start an altercation with me. No one knew who he was. I’m the draw. Everyone wants to fight me.”
Despite ruling out Topuria as an opponent, Pimblett did give him credit for his knockout. Having said that, the 27-year-old warned that if he connected with that near fight-ending kick Herbert did, Topuria would have been done for.
“I’ll give him his due, it was a good knockout,” said Pimblett. “It was a very good knockout, especially after taking that head kick in the first round. But if I hit him with that head kick, I would finish him. But as I say, he’s just ‘hand sanitizer boy’ to me. A lion doesn’t concern themselves with the opinions of sheep.”
With two impressive wins under his belt, Pimblett will look to build on his momentum, but does not want to rush his ascension up the lightweight ranks just yet. When asked if he would accept a fight against a top ranked opponent next, Pimblett gave an honest answer: no. However, that could change if he gets a new, lucrative contract.
“I wouldn’t take a top 15 fight,” said Pimblett. “I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t. Add some more zeroes to my contract and then I will. I think I proved tonight that I deserve a new contract. Not this little standard one.”
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