Ilia Topuria Claims He Would ‘Kill’ Paddy Pimblett If He Meets Him Alone Again
Following their infamous physical altercation ahead of UFC London this weekend, Ilia Topuria has claimed should he find himself alone in a room with fellow lightweight, Paddy Pimblett – he would “kill” the Liverpool native.
Last night, footage emerged detailing a physical scuffle between Topuria and Pimblett at the official fighter hotel ahead of UFC London on Saturday – with the two exchanging multiple expletives and insults after Pimblett threw a bottle of hand sanitiser in Topuria’s direction, who threw at least punches at Pimblett.
The German-born contender was corralled by members of his own team soon thereafter as the pair continued to trade insults – with their scuffle the subject of their respective media day appearance today ahead of UFC London.
Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett’s rivalry stems from flagrant comments made about Georgia from the latter
Making his homecoming for the first time since his UFC debut last September, Pimblett, a former Cage Warriors featherweight champion, draws Rodrigo Vargas after landing a rallying knockout win over Luigi Vendramini at UFC Vegas 36.
For Topuria, the featherweight makes his lightweight divisional bow ahead of a planned stay at the weight class, most recently stopping tricky grappler, Ryan Hall with strikes at UFC 264 in July of last year.
Appearing on The MMA Hour this Wednesday evening, Topuria, who meets former Cage Warriors lightweight champion, Jai Herbert on Saturday – reflected on his altercation with Pimblett, claiming he would “kill” the Huyton native if they met alone in a room again.
“He (Paddy Pimblett) saw me, and he was like, smiling to me and wanted me to shake his hand,” Ilia Topuria said. “I don’t know what he wanted from my part. So I threw two (inaudible) to his face, and then everything started, you know. But he was quiet, like a b*tch. He didn’t say anything. So yeah, f*ck him. F*ck him. He’s just a man on Twitter. This is not Twitter, this is real life. If you wanna play a gangster, be gangster by the end. If not just quiet, kid.”
“The same thing (will happen) that you saw on the video,” Ilia Topuria replied when asked what would happen if he ran into Pimblett again. “Maybe – if I have the chance – I don’t know. They (the UFC) give me the chance to be alone with him in a room, I’m gonna kill this motherf*cker.”
Topuria explained that regardless of the outcome in their respective next fights this weekend, he wants to land a fight against Pimblett next unquestionably.
“For me, it doesn’t matter – he lose or he wins, it doesn’t matter,” Ilia Topuria said. “I wanna fight him. ‘Cause I know that’s the only way to have him face-to-face, man-to-p*ssy. So, I wanna flight him.”
