Unbeaten UFC star Ilia Topuria has been branded as ‘stupid’ by rival Paddy Pimblett over his decision in moving up a division.
Topuria vacated his featherweight title in February to challenge lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, saying he could no longer make 145 pounds.
This left a golden opportunity for ex-UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski to contest for the belt once again.
The Australian is doing exactly that at UFC 314 in April against Brazil’s Diego Lopes, and Pimblett, who faces the toughest challenge of his MMA career to date, also features on the Miami card as he takes on Michael Chandler.
And Pimblett cannot fathom why Topuria moved up a weight class, as he claimed he was small at lightweight, while also accusing the Spaniard of trying to be Conor McGregor with his move up to 155lbs.
“I was thinking, ‘Wow, you’re stupid. Why have you moved up to this division?’” the 30-year-old told Shak MMA.
“He’s tiny. He’s, like, 5’5”, 5’6”, I don’t understand. He has the audacity to call me fat when he’s saying he can’t make 145 anymore when he’s a m****t. It just doesn’t make sense.”
Topuria won the belt by knocking out Volkanovski in just his seventh bout in Dana White’s promotion at UFC 298 in February 2024.
He then made history by becoming the first man to knockout Max Holloway in the UFC ten months later to retain the belt, before deciding his next challenge would be at lightweight.
“I think he ran from 145 to be honest,” Pimblett added.
“Because he knew Volkanovski not coming off a knockout loss 12 weeks earlier would give him a much tougher fight than his first fight with him.
“And then he also had [Movsar] Evloev and Lopes to fight.
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GettyPimblett said Topuria is trying to be McGregor and even copies his tattoos[/caption]
“I would have had a lot more respect for Ilia if he would have defended that belt two more times.
“Then he would have been able to keep his belt and not have to vacate it and move up and fight Islam or whoever has the belt at the time.
“But I don’t think he deserves a straight title shot and I don’t think the UFC do either.
“I think he’s going to have to fight someone in the top three if he wants to get a title shot.”
“Everyone wants to be Conor McGregor,” Pimblett concluded when asked why UFC fighters are wanting to move up a division.
“Ilia Topuria’s the worst for it. He copied his chest tattoo and his back tattoo and all that.
UFC Lightweight Rankings
Islam Makhachev (c)
- Arman Tsarukyan
- Charles Oliveira
- Justin Gaethje
- Dustin Poirier
- Max Holloway
- Dan Hooker
- Michael Chandler
- Mateusz Gamrot
- Beneil Dariush
- Renato Moicano
- Rafael Fiziev
- Paddy Pimblett
- Jalin Turner
- Grant Dawson
- Benoit Saint Denis
“He just wants to be Conor McGregor, but you can’t be Conor McGregor when you’ve got the charisma of a tin of beans, so it’s one of them.”
Pimblett’s rivalry with Topuria stems back to when the pair were involved in an incident at a hotel in London before a UFC Fight Night event in March 2022.
Both men featured and won their respective fights on the card in London that also featured Tom Aspinall and Molly McCann.
A video showed Topuria and his team approaching Pimblett in the fighter’s hotel, which caused the latter to throw a bottle of hand sanitiser and the former responding with an attempted punch.
Pimblett was heard saying, ‘Do you think I’m scared of you,’ and Topuria called the Liverpool man a ‘b****’ numerous times.
The pair later got involved in a heated verbal exchange in a press conference for UFC 282 when both fighters featured on the same card again.
Pimblett is looking to win his seventh consecutive fight since joining the UFC roster when he faces Chandler, and he has left fans stunned after showing off his current shape ahead of UFC 314 with behind-the-scenes footage inside his training camp.
He posed topless after a workout before flexing towards the camera, showing off a six-pack and brilliant physical condition.
One fan responded: “Already this early he is in brilliant shape. Wow.”
Another then said: “Dang Paddy already in shape this early in camp? Chandler is getting it.”
