Paddy Pimblett given ‘possible date’ for Ilia Topuria grudge match over UFC lightweight title

Paddy Pimblett’s team have said the Liverpudlian has been given a “possible date” for his next fight, with the UFC star “hopefully” facing Ilia Topuria.

Pimblett, who has had a grudge with Topuria for over three years, is hoping to be named as the Spanish-Georgian’s first challenger for the lightweight title.

Topuria knocked out former champion Charles Oliveira in June to win the vacant belt, having given up the featherweight title earlier in the year. After beating Oliveira, Topuria faced off with Pimblett in the cage.

However, there has been no confirmation of either man’s next move, though there have been calls for the rivals to settle a grudge that dates back to 2022 – when “El Matador” confronted “Paddy The Baddy” in a London hotel, after accusing the latter of posting anti-Georgian tweets.

“Paddy’s just been working towards getting his next fight,” said one of Pimblett’s coaches, Ellis Hampson, speaking on the 30-year-old’s YouTube channel. “He’s still waiting to hear. He’s been told a possible date.

“Working on his strength and conditioning, getting his weight down, working towards a date like he’s fighting – hopefully Ilia. Working around some gameplan and stuff for Ilia.

“So, he’s just ticking over really, he’s waiting for some confirmation so we can get some news, start working towards an opponent.”

open image in gallery

Another coach, Paul Rimmer, added: “We’re still in limbo, waiting for some news for Paddy. He’s obviously training very hard, always training to beat the best guys in the division, but it’d be great if he had some focus – had a name, a date, just something solid.

“He’s training well, training hard, looking really good, peak condition. We just need a date and the opponent now.”

Pimblett himself said: “I just wanna get a fight in, lad. All Ilia’s ever done is talk s*** about me, saying I’m s***, saying I don’t deserve to fight him.

“After his last fight, I get in the cage and he pushes me. [I] think it’s happening, and now all I’m hearing is he’s stalling. He’s not saying yes to the fight, he’s stalling.

“If I’m that s**, lad, why don’t you just wanna take an easy fight and beat me then? Step up. As [Mike] Tyson said: ‘Sign the contract, big boy.’”

open image in gallery

Pimblett last fought in April, dominating Michael Chandler, a former three-time Bellator champion, en route to a third-round TKO win.

That result kept Pimblett unbeaten in the UFC, while Topuria, 28, is unbeaten overall as a professional.

Topuria’s first-round knockout of Oliveira followed his KOs of Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway in 2024. In knocking out Volkanovski last February, Topuria claimed the featherweight title, before he retained it with his October stoppage of ex-champion Holloway.

Topuria has also been linked to a title defence against Justin Gaethje, a former interim champion at 155lb, while Arman Tsarukyan was deemed a potential challenger until he was paired with Dan Hooker.