Is Paddy Pimblett vs. Ilia Topuria one of MMA’s only legal rivals?
During the UFC’s 30+ years of running, there were a lot of iconic feuds. Liddell vs. Ortiz. Cormier vs. Jones. McGregor vs. Khabib. However, recently, with one obvious exception, there has been a great lack of true competition in mixed martial arts.
“Where you fall, what we’re going on here is that MMA has a real rivalry and there’s not much there,” says Chael Sonnen, as he discusses the ongoing spat between Pimblett and Topuria on his YouTube channel, but many of them aren’t there.
“Ilia Topria is now a bigger star than Paddy ‘Buddy’…Do you want to fight me? Because that’s a good argument. Pay-per-view heading. ”
Paddy Pimblett asks questions on Ilia Topuria’s resume
Pinblett and Topulia’s rivalry dates back to the March 2022 incident prior to UFC London, when Elmatador reportedly pursued the Buddy after Pinblett’s “buddy” about his home country in Topria, Georgia. As Pimblett says, Topuria is ready to throw her hand at him, urging Liverpudlian to fire a bottle of hand sanitizer at the final featherweight champion.
So we sometimes hear Pinblet refer to Topuria as the “boy of the disinfectant.”
In a recent interview with TNT Sports, Pimblett rekindled their rivalry, claiming that “El Matador” is a “hand-hand” opponent throughout his UFC career.
“Boy, Paddy got pretty intense. Paddy got pretty intense in Ilia,” continued Sonnen. “He questioned every fight he made. He said, this is fair that you question the battle of Ilia. Everyone will do the same to me. But they do the same to me.