Topuria and Pimblett Conflict – How MMA’s Fiercest Rivalry Began

Where It All Began and How One of Modern MMA’s Fiercest Rivalries Unfolded
The conflict between Ilia and Paddy has been ongoing for quite some time—and it’s quickly reaching its climax.

Based on observations gathered over the last 30 years, there are generally three types of rivalries in mixed martial arts. The most common is the clash between two fighters who, prior to the fight announcement, seemed to have no personal issues with each other. However, as the bout approaches, things escalate—trash talk begins in interviews and press conferences, tensions rise, and by the time they step into the cage, the fighters may not be enemies, but they’re certainly fierce competitors.

The second type involves mutual respect—where fighters maintain polite communication, and the octagon simply serves as a platform for pure athletic competition.

And then, there’s the third, rarest (and most valuable for promotion) kind of rivalry: when two fighters genuinely dislike each other.

Personal disagreements, inherited grudges from teammates, or even just fundamental differences in values—there’s no shortage of reasons for animosity. But as it turns out, in one of the most intense rivalries of the modern era, all it took was a single careless comment—and the misunderstanding that followed.

Today, a clash between Ilia “El Matador” Topuria and Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett seems virtually inevitable. Topuria, the first Georgian champion in UFC history, first captured the featherweight title and then moved up in weight, conquering a second division. Meanwhile, Pimblett has also been climbing the lightweight rankings and is now considered a contender for the title in Topuria’s new division. It’s entirely possible that he could be granted the next title shot.

But it’s important to note: the only reason Pimblett might receive a title opportunity at this stage is because his potential fight with the Georgian falls into that rare, third type of rivalry mentioned earlier—where the promotion doesn’t need to do anything to “sell” the fight. Topuria and Pimblett will handle that themselves. Their genuine, organic animosity is enough to turn a title bout into a true superfight.

So… How Did It All Begin?
The rivalry between Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett has been brewing for years—and ironically, it didn’t even start between them. It all began with an exchange involving Pimblett and Guram Kutateladze, back when “The Baddy” wasn’t even signed to the UFC.

At the time, while lightweight Paddy Pimblett was still preparing for his UFC debut, Ilia Topuria had already fought multiple times in the promotion’s featherweight division. Known for never being shy, Pimblett had a clear strategy: to stir up as much buzz around his name as possible before officially entering the UFC spotlight.

This led to a Twitter exchange with Guram Kutateladze, who was then an active UFC lightweight and considered a highly promising prospect. Pimblett, a standout from the British promotion Cage Warriors, issued what seemed like a fairly respectful challenge:

“@seanshelby let me welcome your new superstar to the UFC in June. Let’s see how good he really is?!” – Guram Kutateladze tweeted.

Pimblett himself recalls the moment as follows:

“Guram Kutateladze tweeted that he wanted to welcome me to the UFC, and in response, I called him a fake Russian [because he had a shaved head and a long beard]. That comment pissed off a lot of people, and I realized that [Georgians] really don’t like being compared to Russians. Naturally, I decided to lean into it and wrote something like, ‘No wonder Russians are terrorizing Georgians.’ Then I went to sleep, and when I woke up the next morning, my phone had just exploded. Guram, Ilia—everyone was commenting at me. I didn’t even understand what was going on.”

“To this day, the whole thing annoys me, because later Ilia said on [Joe Rogan’s podcast] that I was happy Russians were bombing Georgians and killing children. I never said anything like that, and I never would. Maybe it was a language barrier, but when we say someone is ‘terrorizing’ someone, it just means bullying. He thought I was referring to war. If that’s the case, then learn English, Ilia, because it was just a misunderstood comment. I later addressed it and said I was sorry if anyone misunderstood what I said.”

Hotel Altercation
Pimblett quickly deleted the controversial tweets and followed up with a public explanation on the same platform. However, this did little to improve his relationship with the Georgian fighters.

As readers already know, despite competing in the same division, the argument between Pimblett and Kutateladze never made it to the octagon—it remained confined to social media.

The same cannot be said about Pimblett’s conflict with “El Matador,” which escalated into a physical altercation the following year.

March 2022 – UFC Returns to London
In March 2022, the UFC was set to return to London with another event. Naturally, the card—traditionally bolstered by local talent—included one of Britain’s most popular fighters: Paddy Pimblett.

Just weeks before the event, another lightweight, Jai Herbert, lost his opponent—Mike Davis had to withdraw for personal reasons. To keep the British fighter on the card, the UFC offered Herbert a replacement bout against featherweight Ilia Topuria. With limited time left before the event, it would have been impossible for Topuria to cut down to featherweight, so he agreed to make his lightweight debut and traveled to London. Like the rest of the card’s fighters, he was housed in a UFC-designated hotel.

Looking back now, putting Pimblett and Topuria in the same space might not have been the best idea. Then again, few could have known just how deep the bad blood between the two ran. Maybe even the fighters themselves didn’t fully realize it—until the day they crossed paths in the hotel’s common area.

Pimblett was in the kitchen warming up his food when Topuria and his team entered to use the same space. Within seconds, a verbal exchange turned into a physical altercation—Pimblett threw a bottle of hand sanitizer at Topuria before the two were separated.

In the interviews that followed, Pimblett mockingly referred to the Georgian as “Hand Sanitizer Boy,” while Topuria responded:

Even if I never win again, I still want to fight him. For my people, and for myself—I want to prove something. If we ever meet in the octagon, I’ll kill him

It could be said that this was the first time the possibility of a real fight between Pimblett and Topuria truly began to take shape. Both fighters won their respective matches, and Topuria’s lightweight debut—marked by a brutal knockout of Jai Herbert—signaled that a future clash between the two was far from out of the question.

UFC 282 Press Conference
Following the previous incident, Topuria and Pimblett were placed on the same card only once—at the final UFC pay-per-view event of 2022. The undefeated “Matador,” back in the featherweight division, was set to face fellow unbeaten fighter Bryce Mitchell, while the Brit was booked against Jared Gordon. Ironically, it was this event that nearly extinguished public interest in a potential Topuria vs. Pimblett fight.

From the promotion’s perspective, the joint press conference was a success—both fighters spent more time and energy talking about each other than their actual opponents. Tensions ran high once again, eventually forcing security to step in. For the remainder of fight week, the UFC managed the risk carefully, ensuring that the two men wouldn’t cross paths again.

But there was one thing the organization couldn’t control—performance inside the octagon.

From that perspective, Topuria executed his assignment perfectly: facing Bryce Mitchell—known for his high-level jiu-jitsu—Topuria submitted him with an arm-triangle choke in the second round, proving to everyone that he was a legitimate contender in the division.

In Pimblett’s case, the opposite happened. Despite being officially declared the winner, many believed the Brit lost all three rounds to Jared Gordon. The judges’ decision remains one of the most widely criticized in recent memory and is often cited as a textbook example of a “robbery.”

Worse than the result was the performance itself—and the clear gap in not just present ability, but long-term potential between the two fighters: one defeated a Top 10-ranked, elite opponent with relative ease, while the other struggled against an unranked, mid-tier fighter.

A New Hope
In the end, the decline in public interest surrounding a potential Pimblett vs. Topuria fight may have been a blessing in disguise for both fighters. Topuria remained focused on capturing the featherweight title and only moved up in weight after conquering and defending the belt against the two biggest names in the division—Volkanovski and Holloway.

As for Pimblett, the drop in attention gave him a much-needed opportunity to develop his skillset—something he clearly lacked. After his controversial win over Gordon, the Brit returned to the octagon a full year later to face Tony Ferguson. That decision win was followed by a submission loss to King Green in the very first round. While neither Ferguson nor Green were anywhere near their prime by the time they fought Pimblett, the true benchmark of those fights was the Liverpool native’s growth as a martial artist.

That growth reached its peak this past April at UFC 314, when Pimblett faced Michael Chandler. The Brit handed the former Bellator champion the most one-sided loss of his UFC career, showcasing dramatically improved striking, new weapons in his arsenal, and—most importantly—the ability to execute a smart, disciplined game plan.

The win over Chandler gave Pimblett something he had lost after the Gordon fight—and something that matters even more than rankings or records at lightweight: the belief. Fans and analysts alike began to see Paddy Pimblett once again as a promising fighter with real potential.

That was all it took. Just a few months later—mere minutes after the main event of UFC 317 ended—Pimblett found himself standing inside the octagon, face to face with the new lightweight champion.

The irony? Not long ago, the Brit was accusing Topuria of earning his featherweight title shot off the back of their rivalry and the popularity it generated. Now, the same can be said about “The Baddy” himself.

Everyone understands the reality: Pimblett, who currently sits just inside the lightweight Top 10 after the most recent rankings update, has not objectively earned a title shot. In a division where fighters spend years trying to reach contender status, the only reason his name is being mentioned in title discussions is because of his ongoing conflict with the reigning champion.

A conflict that began all the way back in 2021 over a spat with another fighter—rooted in misunderstanding and a careless comment—and which has been fueled for years by unfinished interviews and social media posts. A conflict that can be dissected into multiple layers but ultimately boils down to one fundamental truth: these are two young men who simply don’t like each other.

But, for better or worse, their profession is designed for precisely this kind of tension and resolution. Sooner or later—maybe in just a few months—these two will stand across from one another in the octagon, the red and blue corners symbolizing just how different they truly are.

The referee will issue the final instruction, invite them to touch gloves (which they’ll almost certainly ignore), the clock will start, and the dangerous dance MMA fans have come to love will begin. A dance that ends with only one man standing—and no matter how sure you are that it will be your favorite fighter, you won’t be able to look away.