The bad blood between Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett definitely still exists even when they cross paths where both are serving as cornermen for upcoming fights.
Ahead of the official UFC Qatar weigh-ins on Friday, Topuria was marching into a building with his brother Aleksandre Topuria while Pimblett was standing across the way as he prepares to corner his friend and teammate Luke Riley, who is making his octagon debut.
“What’s up bro?” Topuria shouted as he walked towards the entrance.
“What’s happening? You all right?” Pimblett shouted back.
That’s where the pleasantries ended with Topuria then firing a shot at Pimblett calling him a “p*ssy” as he walked through the door.
“Come on chorizo, calm down,” Pimblett responded.
Obviously there was no chance UFC officials were going to let these two get any closer than that, although the ceremonial weigh-ins take place in a few hours and it’s possible Topuria and Pimblett meet again.
The rivalry between these two dates back several years when they got into a physical altercation ahead of a UFC London event. The culmination saw Pimblett toss a bottle of hand sanitizer at Topuria, which he then used as a new nickname for the current UFC lightweight champion referring to him as “Hand Sanitizer Boy.”
After Topuria claimed the vacant lightweight title with a stunning knockout over Charles Oliveira in June, Pimblett actually walked into the octagon for a faceoff, which potentially set the stage for a showdown between them in the future.
Rumors have swirled every since that Topuria and Pimblett might meet in a marquee main event under the UFC’s new broadcast deal with Paramount, which begins in January, but no deal has been struck at this time.
Pimblett has been quite vocal calling out Topuria and hoping the fight gets made but it remains to be seen if these two finally get the chance to settle their beef in the cage.
