Ilia Topuria is not so sure if Paddy Pimblett will be his next opponent.
For the first time since 2022 there is a new undisputed lightweight champion in the city and his name is Ilia Topuria. The unbeaten Spanish star improved as a professional and won a second world title with a brutal Ko by Charles Oliveira on UFC 317.
During the interview after Topuria's fight, the UFC tightened to 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 the hunter for a face-off in the Achthoek that ended with a push.
It appears that UFC CEO Dana White did not sign it, as he did the face-off of Alexandre Pantoja and Joshua van in the Co-Main event, and said that Topuria vs. Pimblett was not the fight to make.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
Ilia Topuria says that Paddy Pimblett probably has to win a fight after UFC 317 Face-Off
Topuria quickly caught the wind of white from his face-off with Pimblett.
During the press conference after the fight, Topuria admitted that Pimblett was the fight that he wanted the most. In a separate interview, however, 'El Matador' acknowledged that he may not fight Pimblett, despite a lot of fans interest.
“That is the fight that I think everyone wants to see,” Topuria said about Pimblett about the last fight.
“Maybe that's not the fight I get in my next fight.
“But hopefully he gets a fight. He gets a victory and finally we have that fight,” Topuria added.
“A fight in which two hunters really want to fight each other …”
Prior to his lightweight title profit on UFC 317, Topuria initially excluded Arman Tsarukyan and Paddy Pimblett as potential opponents and claimed that they still needed a victory for title conflicts.
Rank on #8 in the division, Pimblett has only two arranged opponents to his name in Michael Chandler and former competitions King Green.
Ilia Topuria not interested in fighting Justin Gaethje
The strange man in the lightweight division seems to be Justin Gaethje.
The former BMF champion, who has won three of his last four fights, threatened to retire if he did not have a fight with the winner of Topuria vs. Oliveira.
Dana White said that Gaethje would probably have to retire if he is going to make a 'crazy' ultimatum.
As far as Topuria is concerned, he was interested in fighting Gaethje a few days ago, but not so much now.
“Fighting Justin Gaethje, I don't think that will be something exciting for the fans,” Topuria told ESPN MMA.
“We need new blood in the division, we need new faces, new guys who are hungry than the guys we saw in the past such as Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira or the other boys.
“I want to bring new faces to the game,” Topuria explained.
Gaethje, 36, is 0-2 in undisputed title fights and comes from a repeated victory over top candidate Rafael Fiziev on UFC 313.
UFC analyst Din Thomas says that Gaethje was the 'more exciting' fight for Topuria, but probably did not get the title chance because of his devastating Ko loss for Max Holloway on UFC 300 last year.