Outside Source
Pimblett (23-3) and Justin Gaethje were frontrunners for a lightweight title shot against Topuria. However, Topuria recently announced that he is taking a short hiatus due to personal reasons. Pimblett and Gaethje (26-5) are now scheduled to fight for the interim lightweight title at UFC 324 on Jan. 24 in Las Vegas. “The Baddy” isn’t taking it as an interim title fight with Topuria being sidelined. As long as Topuria is inactive, Pimblett will consider himself the champion if he beats Gaethje.
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Best Wishes for a Rival
“Obviously, me and Ilia might not like each other, but I wish him nothing but the best with all his family s—t. It’s nothing to do with fighting,” Pimblett told Full Send MMA. “But when I win this belt, I’m the champ for now. I don’t care if it says interim on it. I’m the champ, Ilia is out of the cage.”
Pimblett’s rivalry with Topuria started with his offensive comments about the champion’s home country of Georgia. Pimblett even threw a bottle of hand sanitizer at “El Matador” at a London fighter hotel in 2022.
Paddy Pimblett says he’ll be the real champion regardless of the interim tag 👀😲
“Obviously, me and Ilia might not like each other, but I wish him nothing but the best with all his family sh*t. But when I win this belt, I’m the champ for now. I don’t care if it says interim on… pic.twitter.com/2K1NC5iyiM
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) December 6, 2025
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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