Paddy Pimblett Wants Ilia Topuria on The Ultimate Fighter
Paddy Pimblett wants Ilia Topuria on The Ultimate Fighter before they ever share a cage, and he is already calling the finish. The Liverpool lightweight told Kolos MMA he has no fight booked, then named Topuria anyway.
“I’ll beat him that bad, I’ll send him back down to featherweight,” Pimblett said. “I think me and Elie Zaporia would be a brilliant season of the Ultimate Fighter, because I’d get under his skin so much that when we come into the fight, I’d beat him just as fast as McGregor beats Aldo.”
That comparison is to Conor McGregor stopping Jose Aldo in 13 seconds at UFC 194. Pimblett did not say the bout is signed. He said the six weeks of coaching would do the selling.
“Brilliant press conference, as I say, the Ultimate Fighter would be a very entertaining six weeks, to say the least, if it was me and him,” Pimblett said.
The timing is the part that is not in his hands. Topuria is 17-1 after losing the lightweight title to Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14, a corner stoppage at the end of the fourth round and the first defeat of his MMA career. He also suffered two orbital fractures and is not expected back in 2026.
Pimblett’s shot at Topuria is aimed at what came after that loss. Topuria has accused Gaethje of loading his gloves. Pimblett called that an excuse for a fight that was already over.
“He’s talking sht, he’s talking sht, he’s making excuses now, he’s making excuses,” Pimblett said. “When he lost fair and square, know what I mean?”
He then put his own résumé next to it. Pimblett lost a five-round unanimous decision to Gaethje for the interim lightweight title at UFC 324 on January 24, a bout that paid Fight of the Night.
“I had better excuses than him when I got poked in the eye and kicked in the balls, but I never used them,” Pimblett said. “For Ilya to try and take some of it away from him, it just shows what a piece of sh*t Ilya is.”
Asked to choose among Gaethje, Arman Tsarukyan, and Topuria if no belts were involved, Pimblett did not hesitate.
“If there was no bells on the line at all between any of them, I want to beat Ilya Zaporia, so I’d probably pick him,” he said.
The division is not waiting on that preference. Gaethje is the champion after beating Topuria at the White House card, and he has already said Topuria is too small for 155 pounds and would have a difficult time with Pimblett. Tsarukyan remains in the title conversation after a first-round knockout of Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331.
Pimblett’s own case is the rebound. He is 24-4 and ranked No. 5 at lightweight after submitting Benoit Saint-Denis with a Peruvian necktie at 0:52 of the first round in the UFC 329 co-main event on July 11. That was his first win since the Gaethje loss.
Topuria’s lightweight run before Freedom 250 was the other half of the argument. He knocked out Charles Oliveira in the first round at UFC 317 in June 2025 to win the vacant belt after vacating the featherweight title. Gaethje ended the unbeaten streak nine months later.
Nothing in the Kolos interview turns the TUF idea into a booking. Pimblett said he has no date. Topuria is still working back from the orbital fractures and posted a training update this week. The lightweight title still sits with Gaethje.
If the UFC wants the grudge match without a belt attached, Pimblett has already named the format. Six weeks in the house, then a fight he thinks ends before the first minute is up.
