Pimblett one fight from title shot
Britain's Paddy Pimblett is "one fight away" from securing a title shot, says former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria.Pimblett is eighth in the UFC's lightweight rankings after securing the biggest win of his career with a dominant win over Michael Chandler in April.Last month 30-year-old Pimblett said he was targeting a fight next against Topuria or Justin Gaethje in Abu Dhabi in October.Topuria, who faces Brazil's Charles Oliveira for the lightweight belt at UFC 317 in Las Vegas on Saturday, is open to fighting Pimblett if he beats someone else first."I see that fight happening. He has to be ready because he doesn't make those kind of decisions. It's me who decides when, where and against who," Topuria told BBC Sport.
"The only thing I can tell him is 'be ready'. Whenever you get the call you show up, you do your thing, you get your money, you go back home."He's one fight away from the title shot. So if he gets that win of course we are going to have that fight and I'm gonna whoop his ass."Topuria has history with Pimblett after the pair clashed at a hotel before UFC London in 2022.With the pair in different weight divisions, it looked like a fight may never materialise, but that changed when Topuria vacated his featherweight title this year to move up to lightweight.
'I had to almost kill myself to make 145lb'
Topuria, 28, has won the first 16 fights of his career and had a remarkable 2024, knocking out Alexander Volkanovski to win the featherweight title last February.Victory meant Topuria, who holds Georgian citizenship, became Spain's first UFC champion, before he was granted Spanish citizenship by President Pedro Sanchez.Topuria knocked out another former champion in Max Holloway in October, before vacating the belt in April to move up to lightweight.Despite his success at featherweight, Topuria says the decision to move up was based on the toll the division was having on his physical health."I really belong to this this weight class. I had to almost kill myself to make the 145lb (10st 3lb) division," said Topuria."I feel much comfortable. I feel even more powerful in this weight division."And this is actually the first time I have been able to enjoy the whole process like the training - even the weight cut - because it's much much easier."From one to 10, at featherweight when I was fighting at this point I was feeling at five. And now I feel at nine."
The title opportunity arose after it was announced champion Islam Makhachev would be vacating his belt to move up to welterweight.Former champion Oliveira is second in the UFC lightweight rankings and holds a number of records in the promotion, including most finishes with 20 and most submissions with 16.Like Volkanovski and Holloway, 35-year-old Oliveira is one of the most popular fighters on the roster, meaning Topuria may find himself in the familiar position of fans rooting against him."I can't feel like the bad guy because this is nothing personal. I don't have anything personal against them," said Topuria."This is sport. We compete and I hope that the best wins. I truly believe that I'm the best."
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