A historic feud between Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett and Ilia Topuria has gone viral following ‘El Matador’s’ emphatic title defense against Max Holloway this past Saturday at UFC 308.
At UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi this past Saturday, Ilia Topuria made UFC history by becoming the first fighter ever to knock out Max Holloway, successfully defending his featherweight title with a third-round finish.
With that, the Spaniard has shot himself into superstardom, potentially putting him as the front-runner to win Fighter of the Year, ahead of light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira.
Paddy Pimblett’s prediction about Ilia Topuria goes viral following UFC 308
Before the 27-year-old became the star that he is today, he was cutting his teeth on the prelims like every other star needs to.
Rewind to March 2022, and Topuria was traveling to London to take on Jai Herbert in enemy territory up at lightweight, sharing a card with UFC star, Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett.
In 2021, Pimblett called Georgian fighters, ‘Fake Russian’s’ which unknowingly to him, started a feud with Topuria who took his comments as disrespect considering the country’s history.
Keeping it in mind for when they bumped into each other at the fighter hotel during UFC London fight week, Topuria pressed ‘The Baddy’ which resulted in a brief scuffle between the two teams with Pimblett subsequently throwing a bottle of hand sanitizer at Topuria.
During Pimblett’s bizarre online rant about Georgian fighters, he also shared a prediction about Topuria’s career, claiming he would always be on the prelims underneath him, which hasn’t aged well at all.
“Oh my god, your banter is as bad as your fights. Don’t worry mate I’ll climb right above you in the rankings after about two fights cause people actually wanna see me fight. You’re a nobody and will continue to be a nobody. While I get sh*t done you will stay on the prelims while I’m on the main card,” Pimblett teased Topuria.
Following Topuria’s blockbuster win on Saturday, fans quickly took to X (formerly Twitter) to remind Pimblett of his prediction, stating that it ‘didn’t age well’.
“Should have laid off the donuts, bruv,” one fan commented on Pimblett’s prediction.
Another fan commented: “This might be the worst-aged tweet on the platform I can’t lie.”
Paddy Pimblett claims he would still beat Ilia Topuria at lightweight
Despite Topuria’s massive rise in the sport over the past few years, Pimblett remains adamant that he would beat the Spaniard if he ever came back up to 155lbs.
‘The Baddy’ picked up his biggest win yet last time out, submitting Bobby Green in the first round of their UFC 304 fight in Manchester, however, he is still only ranked 14th in the lightweight division.
“I can’t wait for him to come back up to lightweight, I still think I’d beat him. I really do, I still think I’d beat him, lad,” Pimblett audaciously claimed in a video on his YouTube channel.
“Whether he’s just beat Max Holloway or not, I still think I’d beat him. Kicking him on the feet or taking him down and submitting him, I genuinely think I’d beat him, but congrats Ilia Topuria, well-done son, congratulations, lad,” Pimblett continued.
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