Former UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, in a recent appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, discussed his next steps in his career. He plans to compete at lightweight after vacating his featherweight title, potentially facing lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. However, now that the dust has settled on who the actual number one contender at lightweight is, Topuria is open to a new fight, a fight against bitter rival Paddy Pimblett, who has had run-ins in the past with Topuria.
“But what excites me more is the fight with Paddy, really. Yeah, that fight excites me even more. And if they could put that fight in Spain, in the Bernabéu Stadium—I know that Dana doesn’t like to put events in stadiums, but that’s the only stadium in the world that they can close the roof. How many people? 80,000? You get 80,000 in Spain easy too. Yeah, if you’re fighting in Spain, no problem. Oh my God, that would be insane. I might have to go to Spain for that.”
The former champion, despite not liking the Scouse MMA star, knows a big fight when he sees one, as he knows there is a history of bad blood, and MMA is gaining popularity across Europe. That and with Topuria being a true star of the sport now, this could have the makings of a superfight.
Ilia Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett has “Superfight” written all over it.
Much like the upcoming showdown between Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr., two fighters who are not held in high regard in the boxing scene, as neither is anywhere near title contention. Their superfight, however, is still billed as a superfight due to the history of the title, their father’s involvement, and the incredible popularity of boxing in the UK. It culminates in a fight that doesn’t need a world title to sell; the sheer drama of it all is what makes it worth watching.
Much like what we had with Colby Covington against Jorge Masivadal at UFC 272. Now, with two even bigger stars, former American Top Team teammates, this could be a superfight to rival Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov’s, if the promotion is top-notch.
