Ilia Topuria’s lightweight move will mark his “downfall”, says Paddy Pimblett

Ilia Topuria‘s long-time rival Paddy Pimblett has suggested that a move up to lightweight will mark the beginning of the featherweight champion’s downfall in the UFC.

As we now know, Ilia Topuria looks set to leave the featherweight division and vacate the title. Instead of staying at 145 pounds, he plans on venturing up to 155, where he will attempt to become a two-weight world champion by lifting the gold up high at lightweight. Some think he’ll get the job done and others don’t, but one thing that feels pretty clear is this: he’s as motivated as he’s ever been before.

Someone else who is pretty motivated right now is Paddy Pimblett. The Baddy’ looks set to battle Michael Chandler later this year, as he hopes to venture up through the rankings too. Paddy has had his fair share of problems with Ilia Topuria in the past, and in a recent interview, he had a prediction for Ilia’s future.

Paddy Pimblett’s view on Ilia Topuria

“That’s the fight I want,” Pimblett told Round Eight Boxing about Ilia Topuria. “I want that fight. That’s another one just to prove everyone wrong. He’s a midget, lad. He’s not a Lightweight. He shouldn’t be fighting at Lightweight, he should just stop at Featherweight. It’s gonna be the downfall of Topuria.”

He continued, “It’s a big mistake. I think he knew that in a rematch with [Alexander Volkanovski], fighting Volk when he hasn’t been knocked out 12 weeks earlier with a nasty head kick, I think he knew Volk would give him a very tough test. He said he cemented his legacy at the weight, it’s a little bit of bulls—t. Beat Volk again, beat Lopes, beat Evloev, then you’ve cleared the division out and move on. Champions are too quick to want to move on now and not defend the belt.”

Quotes via MMA Mania