Ilia Topuria’s coach, Jorge Climent, believes a fight between Topuria and Paddy Pimblett would be a complete mismatch, lacking any real competition. There was discussion two years ago about the potential outcome if the UFC featherweight champion were to face the lightweight star.
Tensions between the two fighters escalated in March 2022 when they got into a scuffle at a Fight Night event in London. This altercation followed a series of exchanges on social media, where Pimblett made inflammatory remarks about the Russo-Georgian War.
In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Climent revealed that despite Pimblett’s trash talk, he wasn’t interested in the fight, and that the UFC has seemingly protected him as a rising star, even though Topuria pushed to make the matchup happen. “I don’t know if that kid is ready to fight someone at a championship level right now,” Climent stated. “Who has he beaten? They keep putting average opponents in front of him just so he can stay relevant. He’s popular because of his personality and the way he talks, but I don’t see him having the skill to face Ilia, and I don’t think he’s earned it.”
When asked how he thinks a potential fight would go, Climent added, “What would that be—abuse?”
