Paddy Pimblett says Ilia Topuria going to lightweight will be “the downfall of his career”

Paddy Pimblett doesn’t expect Ilia Topuria to have much success at lightweight.

Pimblett and Topuria have taken shots at each other in the past, as both have shown interest in fighting one another. However, Topuria was at featherweight and wound up becoming the champ. But, after one title defense, he announced he would be vacating his belt and moving up to lightweight.

Ahead of his return to the lightweight division, as he did KO Jai Herbert at lightweight, Paddy Pimblett doesn’t think Ilia Topuria will have success in the UFC’s lightweight division.

Paddy Pimblett says Ilia Topuria moving up to lightweight will be “the downfall of his career” 😳

“He’s a midget lad. He’s not a lightweight… He should’ve stuck at featherweight. It’s gonna be the downfall of his career.”

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“That’s the fight I want, 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,” Pimblett said. “He should have stayed at featherweight. It’s gonna be the downfall of his career. I just want to fight him anyway, it doesn’t have to be a title fight. I want to prove a lot of people wrong, he thinks he’s better than he is. He’s just trying to be a carbon copy of McGregor.”

Pimblett believes Topuria likely knew he would lose a rematch to Volkanovski, given the former champ isn’t coming off being knocked out so recently, which is why he moved up. But, Pimblett is hopeful to get the fight so he can prove Topuria isn’t as good as many think.

Paddy Pimblett doesn’t think Ilia Topuria should get an immediate title shot

Despite Ilia Topuria being the former champ at featherweight and vacating his belt, Paddy Pimblett doesn’t think he should get an immediate title shot.

Instead, Pimblett believes Topuria should have to fight a top contender to prove he can hang with the top guys at 155lbs.

“I can’t see him getting a title shot straight away,” Pimblett said. “I think he’s going to have to fight a Poirier, an Arman, or a Charles if he wants a title shot.”

As for Paddy Pimblett, he’s 22-3 as a pro. He’s set to take on Michael Chandler in a five-round co-main event fight at UFC 314.