Paddy Pimblett has responded to a rumor that he’ll be fighting his rival Ilia Topuria next.

“I’d love to smash his head in, lad,” Pimblett told DAZN when asked about the possibility of facing Topuria. “But we need to wait and see… Nothing [has been discussed] yet. No one’s spoken to me about it, so we’ll see what happens.”

Pimblett has had a rivalry for Topuria that stems back long before he became a double-champion, and even escalated to the point that they had a brief scuffle prior to an event in the UK a few years ago.

As such, it’s always felt like a matter of time before the two would eventually meet in the Octagon, and with Topuria having just lost the lightweight title back in June in an upset TKO loss to Justin Gaethje, it’s opened an opportunity for it to happen.

Pimblett also lost to Gaethje earlier this year in an interim title fight, but has since rebounded with a 52 second submission victory over Benoit Saint Denis, taking him to No.5 on the lightweight rankings.

However, while ‘The Baddy’ is open to fighting Topuria, he’s also made it clear he’s got plenty of other potential opponents too.

“Arman [Tsarukyan], [Justin] Gaethje, [Mauricio] Ruffy, Charles [Oliveira],” Pimblett said. “There’s loads of names. When I get told who I’m fighting, I’m sure everyone else will know.”

As for a potential landing spot for his next fight, Pimblett suggests that it could happen late in the year.

“Yeah, if I fight again this year, it will be December, hopefully. But we’ll see what happens.”