Paddy Pimblett responds to rumored December Ilia Topuria fight

Paddy Pimblett has dismissed rumors of a December showdown with Ilia Topuria, stating the UFC has not formally offered him the fight. Sean O'Malley's coach Tim Welch had recently claimed to have heard talk of a potential matchup between the lightweights, but Pimblett told reporters he remains in the dark regarding any official proposal. However, the British fighter said he would be willing to face Topuria and listed several other top-tier opponents as viable alternatives, including current champion Justin Gaethje, Arman Tsarukyan, Mauricio Ruffy, and Charles Oliveira. Pimblett expressed his desire to compete before year's end, ideally in December, but emphasized that no concrete offer has materialized.

The two fighters share a well-documented rivalry rooted in Pimblett's previous comments about Georgia, Topuria's homeland. Their feud intensified in 2022 when Pimblett threw a bottle of hand sanitizer at Topuria at a London fighter hotel—a moment that spawned Pimblett's "sanitizer boy" nickname for his rival. The lightweight contenders have continued trading jabs at press conferences and on social media, and have publicly mocked each other following their respective title losses to Gaethje. Despite the animosity, Pimblett suggested he remains open to facing the former two-division champion if the UFC arranges it.