Ilia Topuria isn’t so sure if Paddy Pimblett will be his next opponent.
For the first time since 2022, there’s a new undisputed lightweight champion in town and his name is Ilia Topuria. The undefeated Spanish star improved to 17-0 as a pro and won a second world title with a brutal KO of Charles Oliveira at UFC 317.
During Topuria’s post-fight interview, the UFC honed in on three potential opponents for ‘El Matador’: Arman Tsarukyan, Justin Gaethje and his heated rival Paddy Pimblett.
While Topuria had mentioned Tsarukyan, UFC commentator Joe Rogan thought he was talking about Pimblett and they brought in the fighter for a face-off in the Octagon that ended with a push.
It turns out UFC CEO Dana White didn’t sign off on it, like he did Alexandre Pantoja’s and Joshua Van’s face-off in the co-main event, saying Topuria vs. Pimblett was not the fight to make.
- READ MORE: Arman Tsarukyan reacts to Ilia Topuria ‘avoiding’ him for Paddy Pimblett face-off at UFC 317
Ilia Topuria says Paddy Pimblett probably has to win one more fight after UFC 317 face-off
Topuria quickly caught wind of White disliking his face-off with Pimblett.
At the post-fight press conference, Topuria admitted Pimblett was the fight he wanted the most. However, in a separate interview, ‘El Matador’ acknowledged he might not fight Pimblett next, despite much fan interest.
“That’s the fight that I think everyone wants to see,” Topuria said of Pimblett on About Last Fight.
“Maybe that’s not the fight that I’m gonna get in my next fight.
“But, hopefully, he’s gonna get a fight. He’s gonna get a win, and finally, we have that fight,” Topuria added.
“A fight where two fighters really wanna fight with each other…”
Prior to his lightweight title win at UFC 317, Topuria had initially ruled out Arman Tsarukyan and Paddy Pimblett as potential opponents and claimed they needed one more win for title contention.
Ranked #8 in the division, Pimblett only has two ranked opponents to his name in Michael Chandler and former contender King Green.
Ilia Topuria not interested in fighting Justin Gaethje next
The odd man out in the lightweight division seems to be Justin Gaethje.
The former BMF champion, who has won three out of his last four fights, threatened to retire if he wasn’t given a fight with the winner of Topuria vs. Oliveira.
Dana White said Gaethje should probably retire if he is going to make a ‘whacky’ ultimatum.
As for Topuria, he was interested in fighting Gaethje a few days ago, but not so much now.
“Fighting Justin Gaethje, I don’t think that’s gonna be something exciting for the fans,” Topuria told ESPN MMA.
“We need new blood in the division, we need new faces, new guys that come hungrier than the guys that we used to see in the past like Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira or the other guys.
“I want to bring new faces to the game,” Topuria explained.
Gaethje, 36, is 0-2 in undisputed title fights and is coming off a repeat win over top contender Rafael Fiziev at UFC 313.
UFC analyst Din Thomas says Gaethje was the ‘more exciting’ fight for Topuria but likely didn’t get the title opportunity due to his devastating KO loss to Max Holloway at UFC 300 last year.