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Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria crossed paths again this week, in another frosty exchange as they await news of whether they will fight each other next.
Pimblett and Topuria have held a mutual grudge that dates back to March 2022, when they were involved in an altercation at the fighter hotel ahead of UFC London.
There, Topuria confronted Pimblett over past tweets posted by the Liverpudlian – tweets that Topuria claimed were anti-Georgian. Pimblett threw a bottle of hand sanitiser at the Georgian-Spaniard in the melee.
Later that week, Pimblett submitted Rodrigo Vargas and Topuria knocked out Jai Herbert, seemingly increasing the odds that the pair would square off at lightweight. However, Topuria returned to featherweight, eventually winning the title in 2024.
But the unbeaten “Matador”, 28, moved back up to lightweight this year, claiming the vacant belt after relinquishing the featherweight gold. And all the while, Pimblett has remained undefeated in the UFC, closing in on a title shot.
Indeed, “Paddy The Baddy” could be Topuria’s first challenger as 155lb champion, with the pair having faced off in the cage after the latter won his new belt in June.
They have continued to trade barbs in interviews and online since then, and on Friday, they crossed paths in Qatar – with journalist Alvaro Colmenero capturing the exchange on film.
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Paddy Pimblett (left) defeated Michael Chandler last time out, in April (Getty Images)
“What’s up, bro?” Topuria shouted at Pimblett, 30, while entering a building with members of his entourage.
“What’s happening? You alright?” Pimblett shouted back, to which Topuria responded: “P***y.”
“Come on, chorizo, calm down,” Pimblett replied.
On Saturday, Pimblett and Topuria will each have at least one teammate competing at UFC Qatar in Doha. In Topuria’s case, it is in fact his brother Aleksandre, who will face Bekzat Almakhan at bantamweight.
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Ilia Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira in June to win a second UFC title (Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Pimblett’s featherweight teammates Luke Riley and Shaqueme Rock will make their UFC debuts, taking on Bogdan Grad and Nurullo Aliev respectively.
Pimblett last fought in April, dominating and stopping Michael Chandler, a former three-time Bellator champion. Topuria’s last outing, in June, was an early knockout of former UFC champion Charles Oliveira.
