Ilia Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett has been brewing for a while now. The two fighters’ bitter rivalry started when they got into a scuffle at the fighter hotel in March 2022 ahead of that year’s UFC London event. Topuria went on to make his lightweight debut that weekend when he knocked out Jai Herbert in Round 2. Pimblett scored a first-round rear-naked choke on Kazula Vargas. Both fighters left good impressions in the Octagon that weekend.
Topuria, 28, has now managed to springboard past Pimblett despite having worked his way to championship status in the featherweight division first.