Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria have long been entangled in an online feud that occasionally splashed out into the real world, but it’s now much worse.
No matter how controversial, ‘The Baddy’ has forged a career for himself in the cage by staying in the headlines. There’s much to like about the scouser, but the current UFC featherweight champion knows first hand that things can turn sour quickly with the Brit.
What started out as fight talk quickly escalated into something much more. Paddy Pimblett reignited his feud with Ilia Topuria during a recent interview.
“Ilia’s a midget,” Pimblett said. “People don’t understand how much bigger I am than Ilia. I’m so much bigger than him.”
“I’d love to do a stare down with him just so everyone can see how much bigger I actually am than him.”
Despite his critiques, Pimblett knows Topuria is a problem inside the octagon.
“Don’t get me wrong, he’s very good. Just because I don’t like him, doesn’t mean I’m going to sit here and lie.”
“But I also think he got fast-tracked to the belt because [Alexander Volkanovski] had cleared the featherweight division out already.”
“If he wants to come to lightweight, I’m here waiting. I’ll be there to welcome him.”
Paddy Pimblett goes off on Ilia Topuria.
“Ilia’s a midget, I am so much bigger than him. If he wants to come to Lightweight, I’ll be here to welcome him. He says he needs six months to make Featherweight, but I’m unprofessional?
Via eldoberdanMMA on YT
— Verdict (@VerdictMMA) February 13, 2025
While appearing on the Full Send Podcast, Ilia Topuria pleaded with fans not to compare him to Paddy Pimblett in terms of ability.
“Come on, please. Don’t even compare me to that bum. We are on different levels.”
“Everyone can see it now that we are on different levels.”
Related: Ilia Topuria is a Conor McGregor imitator, claims Dan Hooker
Topuria is still holding a grudge against Pimblett for comments he made against the champion’s country.
“He was very disrespectful to me, to my country, [and to] all my people. He just behaved like a f***ing idiot, you know.”
“He started to talk about the war [Georgia] had against Russia. He said something [like], ‘Now I understand why the Russian’s put the bombs in Georgia.’”
“Many kids died in that war. Many people died in that war. Not a lot of good things happened in the war.”
“So when you start to joke about that kind of things, just make sure that we don’t find each other anywhere because I’m going to take your f***ing head off.”
Listen to Ilia Topuria’s emotional response to Paddy Pimblett and more below.
