Outside Source
Paddy Pimblett is scheduled to fight Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title at UFC 324 on Jan. 24 in Las Vegas. With champion Ilia Topuria currently inactive, Pimblett believes he could be eventually promoted to undisputed champion if he beats Gaethje.
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Meanwhile, Volkanovski (27-4) will put his featherweight title on the line in a rematch against Diego Lopes a week later at UFC 325 on Jan. 31 in Sydney, Australia. Pimblett believes he could be on a collision course with Volkanovski if they both win their respective fights. Pimblett speculates that if he becomes the undisputed lightweight champ, Volkanovski might see it as the perfect opportunity to fulfill his double-championship aspirations. However, like almost everyone else, “The Baddy” likes Volkanovski and doesn’t want to fight him.
No Animosity
“I think if I win and he wins, and I get upgraded to undisputed champ, it wouldn’t surprise me if [Volk] thinks that’s the perfect opportunity to win the lightweight belt,” Pimblett recently told Tom Aspinall. “I don’t want to fight Volk. I proper like Volk.”
Volkanovski defended the featherweight title four times in his first championship stint before moving up to challenge Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title in 2023. “The Great” gave Makhachev one of the toughest tests of his career despite suffering a unanimous decision loss. Volkanovski defended the featherweight title against Yair Rodriguez before making another double-champ bid against Makhachev. The Australian was sent to the shadow realm with a head kick by Makhachev in their rematch. Volkanovski also lost his featherweight title via a brutal knockout against Ilia Topuria in his next outing. Volkanovski won the vacant featherweight title against Lopes (27-7) last year after Topuria moved up to lightweight.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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