Paddy Pimblett is leaving no stone unturned in his trash-talking campaign as he attempts to get a lightweight title fight against his Ilia Topuria.
In his latest interview Pimblett takes new digs at Topuria’s heritage, which was already a point of contention between the two, while adding an extra layer to their rivalry by also dissing the legendary Bernabeu stadium in Spain, home to the Real Madrid football team, which is where ‘La Layenda’ dreams of fighting.
“I want to fight Ilia, whenever, wherever,” Pimblett told eldoberdanMMA. “I’d love to come to Bernabéu and punch your face in. Do it in Spain in front of your fake countrymen because you’re really German. I’d love to come and punch your face in in front of 90,000 people in the Bernabéu in enemy territory for me because the Bernabéu is a shithole.”
Though he’s on a seven-fight winning streak, the 30-year-old Pimblett is still only ranked No.7 in the 155lb ranks, but he’s convinced he has the skills to beat down the two-division champion.
“I can see so many ways that I finish him,” Pimblett said. “Everyone thinks that on the feet it would be a one-sided fight. I can see myself knocking him out. Kicks and knees and elbows. I’m not going to do what Charles did and come out and have a boxing match with him, because I know he’s a very good boxer. I respect his hands, I respect him as a fighter, he’s very good. But once I get on top of him, he wouldn’t get back up, he wouldn’t be able to. I’d elbow him that many times that he looks like The Elephant Man.”
“That’s the thing, when I fight him, he’s never fought with emotion before. He goes into every fight calm and calculated. With me, I’m already in his head. He’s not going to fight me like he fights everyone else. He’s going to try and take my head off and he’s going to get his head took off in the process.”
With all that being said, Pimblett admits there are other fights he’d be willing to take instead, but naturally he’d prefer to just jump straight to fighting for the title.
“I just want to fight anyone ranked above me, really,” Pimblett said. “If it’s not Ilia, I want a No. 1 contender fight, but I obviously want Ilia. He’s got the belt. He’s who I want to fight. I want to fight for a world title. I want to be the UFC world champion, so saying I want anyone other than Ilia is just stupid. Before he won the belt, I thought I would have to have one more and I thought it would be a No. 1 contender fight with Justin, but then he said he didn’t want to fight me. So I just want to fight Ilia.”
