Ilia Topuria had a pretty impressive run to the UFC title—or did he?
The current UFC Lightweight Champion is one of ten UFC fighters to hold belts in two weight classes, having won the featherweight strap with a second-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 last year.
Ilia Topuria has since relinquished his featherweight title in pursuit of a second belt at 155 lbs, with the knockout artist leaving behind a trail of bodies in his perfect 8-0 stint.
Still, not everybody is impressed by what the Spaniard has done in the UFC.
Paddy Pimblett, a longtime rival of Topuria’s, believes he got it easy, picking apart his featherweight resume.
Paddy Pimblett claims Ilia Topuria had the easiest road to UFC title
Pimblett and Topuria have gone at it for years.
The #7-ranked Pimblett is hoping to fight Topuria for the title after his TKO win over Michael Chandler at UFC 314.
As Pimblett continues to make a case for his first title opportunity, ‘The Baddy’ had some bold claims about Topuria’s initial road to gold.
“I think Ilia had the easiest road to the belt,” Pimblett told EldoberdanMMA.
“He had to beat Josh Emmett to get a title shot,” Pimblett added.
“Who did he beat? Ryan Hall, Josh Emmett, Bryce Mitchell… That was one of the easiest routes I’ve ever seen to a title shot.”
“Michael Chandler would beat all of the people he fought before he fought Volk [Alexander Volkanovski],” Pimblett continued.
“And he wouldn’t have beat Volk, if Volk wasn’t knocked out, like, eight weeks earlier, twelve weeks earlier,” Pimblett said of Topuria.
Alexander Volkanovski was knocked out by Topuria four months after his head kick KO loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 294 in 2023.
“Everything’s happened at the right time for Topuria apart from when he fights me,” Pimblett suggested.
“If I didn’t have to have these little times off, these intervals and I had the easy route to the belt like he did, I would have been champion by now,” Pimblett claimed.
How does Paddy Pimblett’s UFC run compare to Ilia Topuria’s?
Topuria won six UFC fights in a row before he was given a title fight against Alexander Volkanovski. The fight that got him there was a five-round beating of Emmett, who was ranked #5 at the time.
In comparison, Pimblett is currently 7-0 in the UFC lightweight division and has yet to fight someone in the top 5.
Pimblett has the longest active winning streak at lightweight, with wins over Michael Chandler, King Green, Tony Ferguson, Jared Gordon, Jordan Leavitt, Rodrigo Vargas, and Luigi Vendramini.
Pimblett’s last three opponents are on a combined 13-fight losing skid and Pimblett’s first two UFC opponents are no longer in the UFC.
Comparing resumes, it’s safe to sat Topuria has a better strength of schedule than Pimblett in the Octagon.