Tag: ilia topuria

Report: UFC Working On Ilia Topuria Vs. Edson Barboza For TBD Date

A UFC featherweight battle between contenders Ilia Topuria and Edson Barboza is in the early planning stages for an event later this year. MMA journalist Ariel Helwani first reported news of the targeted booking. “UFC is talking about booking Ilia Topuria vs. Edson Barboza next, I’m told. Not finalized yet!” Helwani wrote in a recent…

Continue Reading Report: UFC Working On Ilia Topuria Vs. Edson Barboza For TBD Date at MMA News.

A UFC featherweight battle between contenders Ilia Topuria and Edson Barboza is in the early planning stages for an event later this year.

MMA journalist Ariel Helwani first reported news of the targeted booking.

“UFC is talking about booking Ilia Topuria vs. Edson Barboza next, I’m told. Not finalized yet!” Helwani wrote in a recent post on his Substack.

Topuria had initially expected to face adversary Movsar Evloev next, but the UFC is going in a different direction than what Topuria desires. He most recently defeated Jai Herbert via second-round knockout at UFC London earlier this year.

Topuria has competed at featherweight for most of his MMA career but hasn’t ruled out future bouts at lightweight. He is an undefeated 12-0 in his professional career with recent wins over Ryan Hall and Damon Jackson.

Topuria signed with the UFC following impressive stints in Brave CF and Cage Warriors in 2020.

If the proposed booking comes to fruition, Topuria will face his toughest test against the UFC veteran Barboza. While his featherweight run has come with mixed results, Barboza has competed against some of the top contenders at lightweight and featherweight.

Barboza is looking to get back in the win column after back-to-back losses to Bryce Mitchell and Giga Chikadze. Before that, he earned back-to-back wins at featherweight against Makwan Amirkhani and Shane Burgos.

What are your thoughts on the targeted Ilia Topuria vs. Edson Barboza matchup?

Continue Reading Report: UFC Working On Ilia Topuria Vs. Edson Barboza For TBD Date at MMA News.

Topuria & Evloev Lay Groundwork For Grudge Match After Failed Booking

UFC featherweights Ilia Topuria and Movsar Evloev are at it again on social media and are in talks of a potential grudge match down the line. Topuria and Evloev are two of the top featherweight prospects in the UFC. They were supposed to fight at UFC 270 earlier this year before Evloev pulled out on…

Continue Reading Topuria & Evloev Lay Groundwork For Grudge Match After Failed Booking at MMA News.

UFC featherweights Ilia Topuria and Movsar Evloev are at it again on social media and are in talks of a potential grudge match down the line.

Topuria and Evloev are two of the top featherweight prospects in the UFC. They were supposed to fight at UFC 270 earlier this year before Evloev pulled out on short notice.

Evloev is slated to face Dan Ige in a UFC Fight Night co-headliner on June 4th. But, Topuria recently offered him a bout with a victory over Ige.

“Make sure you make weight and enter top 10 before I will even pay attention fathead,” Evloev replied.

“And if you in a rush you know where to find me.”

After getting word of Evloev’s reply, Topuria got the last word in.

“In the first fight you didn’t even appear,” Topuria said. “For your second opportunity, you’re already making excuses. Make sure you win your next fight and then you will fight against me, the number 1. But for everything to happen you must win so get to work kid and make sure you appear to this one.”

Topuria earned a lightweight win over Jai Herbert at UFC London in March. He has competed at featherweight for a majority of his UFC tenure, picking up wins over the likes of Ryan Hall and Damon Jackson.

Topuria had gotten into a heated altercation with Paddy Pimblett in the leadup to UFC London and many expected that would be the next matchup. However, a recently-leaked matchmaking board indicates the UFC may be arranging another opponent for Pimblett.

Evloev is undefeated with 15 straight wins to begin his professional MMA career. He most recently earned decision wins over Hakeem Dawodu and Nik Lentz.

While Evloev is focused on his fight with Ige in a few weeks, a grudge match with Topuria could be on the horizon.

Do you want to see Ilia Topuria vs. Movsar Evloev next?

Continue Reading Topuria & Evloev Lay Groundwork For Grudge Match After Failed Booking at MMA News.

EXCLUSIVE – Damon Jackson Believes Ilia Topuria Will Be A Big Name But Won’t Fight “Trash” Paddy Pimblett

Damon Jackson, Ilia Topuria, Paddy PimblettUFC featherweight Damon Jackson believes Ilia Topuria to be a rising superstar and has backed him to win over Paddy Pimblett. Having had multiple canceled bouts and replaced opponents, ‘The Leech’ shared his thoughts on the shift in the mindset of competitors nowadays. Jackson is currently on a two-fight win streak with a prior loss […]

Damon Jackson, Ilia Topuria, Paddy Pimblett

UFC featherweight Damon Jackson believes Ilia Topuria to be a rising superstar and has backed him to win over Paddy Pimblett.

Having had multiple canceled bouts and replaced opponents, ‘The Leech’ shared his thoughts on the shift in the mindset of competitors nowadays. Jackson is currently on a two-fight win streak with a prior loss to Ilia Topuria in 2020. The 33-year-old spoke about how well-rounded Topuria is and how he was caught in the first round to get knocked out.

In an exclusive interview with LowKick MMA, Damon Jackson talked about his upcoming fight against Darrick Minner at UFC Fight Night 207. He was asked about a potential matchup between Topuria and another one of the hottest prospects in the game, Paddy Pimblett. As someone who’s faced ‘El Matador’ Jackson attested to his abilities and favors him to win over Pimblett.

“Ilia 100 percent. Paddy is kinda trash, honestly,” Jackson said. “I think that they’re going to have to feed him some nobodies for him to keep building his name up. I think he’s entertaining because of his personality but his skill level is not impressive. It is jiu-jitsu, it’s probably the best thing he has going for him and then his just mindset. His attitude of like, ‘f**k you, I’m going to fight’ and that’s great.”

Jackson made it clear he wishes Pimblett the best and hopes he gets better with time.

“I hope it goes good for him and I hope he gets better. I hope he really sees that early without having to take those big losses because it’s not easy to tell yourself that you’re not that good, this part. So you gotta really work. Hopefully, he zones in and gets better over this time.”

Damon Jackson doesn’t believe UFC will make that fight

As fun as it is to discuss potential fights, Pimblett vs. Topuria is one that we may likely never see play out in real life. Damon Jackson does not believe the UFC will risk losing out on one of their bigger names just yet. He compared Pimblett’s journey in the promotion to that of Sean O’Malley who’s become infamous for fighting lower-ranked opponents.

“He does not need to fight Ilia. I don’t think the UFC will make that fight happen. I think that they want to build Ilia up but they don’t want to build Ilia up on beating him because he could be a big name. Paddy could be such a big name and they definitely don’t want to ruin that this early.

He reckons the UFC will give Pimblett the ‘Sean O’Malley treatment’.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Paddy gets fed like one or two more guys and then they might test him. They’re kinda doing that with Sean O’Malley, you know, where he just now got a top ten. I wouldn’t be surprised if they treat him the same way.”

Jackson will be looking to extend his win streak to three when he takes on Minner this June 4 at UFC Fight Night 207.

Ilia Topuria: I’d Kill Paddy Pimblett If We Were Alone In A Room

Ilia Topuria doesn’t expect tensions to have eased if he collides with lightweight prospect Paddy Pimblett again in London this week. While they both have opponents of their own to focus on for this weekend, Kazula Vargas for the Englishman and Jai Herbert for the Georgian, Pimblett and Topuria have formed a more intense feud…

Continue Reading Ilia Topuria: I’d Kill Paddy Pimblett If We Were Alone In A Room at MMA News.

Ilia Topuria doesn’t expect tensions to have eased if he collides with lightweight prospect Paddy Pimblett again in London this week.

While they both have opponents of their own to focus on for this weekend, Kazula Vargas for the Englishman and Jai Herbert for the Georgian, Pimblett and Topuria have formed a more intense feud between themselves.

They’d previously clashed online following distasteful tweets “The Baddy” posted about the Russo-Georgian War. But the animosity between the pair reached a boiling point at the fighter hotel on Tuesday.

After Topuria approached Pimbett, objects and insults were exchanged, with the ranked UFC featherweight seemingly landing a punch to the Liverpudlian’s arm.

At media day, Pimblett gave his side of the story, accusing “El Matador,” who he branded “hand sanitizer boy,” of trying to “act hard” and doing “nothing” despite a clear number advantage.

During an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Topuria responded. He claimed Pimblett initially tried to act friendly. According to the Georgian, while he tries to be a “gangster” online, the Englishman was “quiet like a bitch” in person.

“He saw me and he was like, smiling at me, and he wanted me to shake his hand. I don’t know what he wanted for my part,” recalled Topuria. “And (when) I saw him, I threw a bottle to his face and then everything started. But he was quiet like a bitch. He didn’t say anything. Fuck him. He’s just a man on Twitter. This is not Twitter. This is real life. If you wanna play a gangster, be a gangster by the end. If not, just stay quiet, kid.”

When asked what would happen if he comes across Pimblett again prior to Saturday’s fight night, Topuria revealed he’s expecting a similar situation. However, if he were to find himself alone with “The Baddy,” he expects things to end very differently for the Brit.

“The same thing you saw in the video (will happen if I see him again). If I have the chance, I don’t know, if they give me the chance to be with him alone in a room, I’m gonna kill this motherfucker,” asserted Topuria.

Topuria: Pimblett Should Be Thankful After Hotel Clash

Ultimately, while footage of the incident has gone viral, the pair avoided a full-blown brawl, with members of Topuria’s entourage quickly separating their man from his fellow main-card competitor.

When recalling the incident, Pimblett suggested he escaped a six-on-one clash unscathed. But further into his conversation with Helwani, Topuria noted that the members of his team mostly played peacekeeping roles.

He believes Pimblett should be thankful for that, because if they didn’t, he would’ve ended up in hospital.

“He saw me and he shit on his pants… I was trying to take his head off. He (posted) something like, ‘It was six versus me.’ You can see in the video, my coach was on his back making a coffee,” said Topuria. “(He was) calm. He didn’t even move.

“No one touched him. My brother was separating me. Can you imagine if everyone go against him? He was alone. We will kill him,” added Topuria. “He should be thankful (to) all my teammates because they separated me. If not, he will be, I don’t know, in the hospital right now.”

What did you make of Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett’s hotel altercation?

Continue Reading Ilia Topuria: I’d Kill Paddy Pimblett If We Were Alone In A Room at MMA News.

Ilia Topuria Claims He Would ‘Kill’ Paddy Pimblett If He Meets Him Alone Again

Ilia TopuriaFollowing their infamous physical altercation ahead of UFC London this weekend, Ilia Topuria has claimed should he find himself alone in a room with fellow lightweight, Paddy Pimblett – he would “kill” the Liverpool native. Last night, footage emerged detailing a physical scuffle between Topuria and Pimblett at the official fighter hotel ahead of UFC […]

Ilia Topuria

Following their infamous physical altercation ahead of UFC London this weekend, Ilia Topuria has claimed should he find himself alone in a room with fellow lightweight, Paddy Pimblett – he would “kill” the Liverpool native.

Last night, footage emerged detailing a physical scuffle between Topuria and Pimblett at the official fighter hotel ahead of UFC London on Saturday – with the two exchanging multiple expletives and insults after Pimblett threw a bottle of hand sanitiser in Topuria’s direction, who threw at least punches at Pimblett. 

The German-born contender was corralled by members of his own team soon thereafter as the pair continued to trade insults – with their scuffle the subject of their respective media day appearance today ahead of UFC London. 

Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett’s rivalry stems from flagrant comments made about Georgia from the latter

Making his homecoming for the first time since his UFC debut last September, Pimblett, a former Cage Warriors featherweight champion, draws Rodrigo Vargas after landing a rallying knockout win over Luigi Vendramini at UFC Vegas 36.

For Topuria, the featherweight makes his lightweight divisional bow ahead of a planned stay at the weight class, most recently stopping tricky grappler, Ryan Hall with strikes at UFC 264 in July of last year. 

Appearing on The MMA Hour this Wednesday evening, Topuria, who meets former Cage Warriors lightweight champion, Jai Herbert on Saturday – reflected on his altercation with Pimblett, claiming he would “kill” the Huyton native if they met alone in a room again.

“He (Paddy Pimblett) saw me, and he was like, smiling to me and wanted me to shake his hand,” Ilia Topuria said. “I don’t know what he wanted from my part. So I threw two (inaudible) to his face, and then everything started, you know. But he was quiet, like a b*tch. He didn’t say anything. So yeah, f*ck him. F*ck him. He’s just a man on Twitter. This is not Twitter, this is real life. If you wanna play a gangster, be gangster by the end. If not just quiet, kid.”

“The same thing (will happen) that you saw on the video,” Ilia Topuria replied when asked what would happen if he ran into Pimblett again. “Maybe – if I have the chance – I don’t know. They (the UFC) give me the chance to be alone with him in a room, I’m gonna kill this motherf*cker.” 

Topuria explained that regardless of the outcome in their respective next fights this weekend, he wants to land a fight against Pimblett next unquestionably.

“For me, it doesn’t matter – he lose or he wins, it doesn’t matter,” Ilia Topuria said. “I wanna fight him. ‘Cause I know that’s the only way to have him face-to-face, man-to-p*ssy. So, I wanna flight him.” 

Paddy Pimblett Details Altercation With “Hand Sanitizer Boy” Topuria

Lightweight prospect Paddy Pimblett has detailed his hotel altercation with fellow UFC London competitor Ilia Topuria, and even debuted a new nickname for the Georgian. This weekend sees the UFC return to England’s capital for the first time since 2019. In two notable main card lightweight scraps, Paddy Pimblett will be making his sophomore appearance…

Continue Reading Paddy Pimblett Details Altercation With “Hand Sanitizer Boy” Topuria at MMA News.

Lightweight prospect Paddy Pimblett has detailed his hotel altercation with fellow UFC London competitor Ilia Topuria, and even debuted a new nickname for the Georgian.

This weekend sees the UFC return to England’s capital for the first time since 2019. In two notable main card lightweight scraps, Paddy Pimblett will be making his sophomore appearance in the Octagon, while #15-ranked featherweight Topuria will be competing at 155 pounds for the first time.

Sharing the cage with Topuria in the main card opener will be Englishman Jai Herbert. Three fights later, “The Baddy,” who is expected to be showered with perhaps the loudest cheers of the night, will collide with Rodrigo “Kazula” Vargas.

While they may be preparing for different opponents, Pimblett and Topuria nearly got into full-blown fight themselves at the fighter hotel on Tuesday, which was apparently over a tweet posted by the Brit in 2021.

In a video recorded by a member of Topuria’s entourage, the Georgian can be seen approaching the Liverpudlian. The pair were split after a number of thrown items and insults were exchanged.

During his appearance at media day on Wednesday, Pimblett gave his side of the story, channeling his inner-Colby Covington with a new nickname for Topuria.

“Who’s that? Oh, hand sanitizer boy? Is that who you mean? Yeah, that’s his name from now on,” said Pimblett. “Don’t refer to him as his name lad, his name’s hand sanitizer. It got bounced off his head. But I don’t concern myself with none of that lad. He wanted to come at me and try to act hard, and he got put in his place.

“I was stood there, on me own, and there was about six of them. And he done nothing,” Pimblett continued. “If he wanted to do something, he would’ve come around the table and tried to have a fight with me. But he didn’t. He stood on the other side of the table because he knows what’s good for him.”

After confirming that Topuria approached him prior to the incident, Pimblett branded the Georgian’s actions as “little man syndrome.”

“As soon as he come out of those double doors he snarled me. So I looked at him and said, ‘What?’” Pimblett recalled. “And then he walked towards me and I said, ‘What’s happening lad?’ And then as he got close to me, he like, swiped a slap at me. Obviously lad, if you raise your hand to me, I’m gonna do something.

“I stepped back and picked the hand sanitizer up and bounced it off his head. He swung… I moved out of the way with a bit of ease. He’s just got a little bit of small man syndrome. He’s only 5’7″, isn’t he?”

Pimblett Explains Why He Didn’t Let Topuria Clash Escalate

Despite the launching of sanitary objects and a few loose swings from Topuria, the pair’s altercation didn’t quite reach the point where fists connected.

Pimblett explained that, with an exciting appearance at UFC London looming, he couldn’t risk losing his spot on the card, either through injury or disciplinary actions.

“I wasn’t punching him because I’m not breaking my hand and not being able to fight and earn my money on the weekend… I can’t let something like that happen lad. I can’t start throwing punches and get cut off the card… Especially (against) someone so meaningless. Who even is he? Seriously, who is Mr. Hand Sanitizer? He’s a no one.”

While the interaction remains a hot topic, both Pimblett and Topuria will be looking to turn their full attention to the task at hand this Saturday. if both are victorious, perhaps we’ll see them share the Octagon down the line.

Would you like to see Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria settle their differences inside the Octagon?

Continue Reading Paddy Pimblett Details Altercation With “Hand Sanitizer Boy” Topuria at MMA News.