{"id":392116,"date":"2026-01-05T00:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T00:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/392116\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T00:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T00:59:10","slug":"paddy-pimblett-says-alexander-volkanovski-could-chase-lightweight-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/392116\/","title":{"rendered":"Paddy Pimblett says Alexander Volkanovski could chase Lightweight title"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">If Pimblett pulls off the upset, a blockbuster showdown with undisputed champion Ilia Topuria would seemingly be next \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/ufc-news\/406027\/ilia-topuria-announces-break-from-fighting-i-dont-want-to-hold-up-the-division\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">assuming Topuria is available later in 2026<\/a>. However, \u201cThe Baddy\u201d believes another massive storyline could emerge instead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">According to Pimblett, all-time Featherweight great Alexander Volkanovski could view a Pimblett title reign as the perfect opening to chase history at 155 pounds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">\u201cI\u2019ve been hearing that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/ufc-news\/408791\/is-alex-volkanovski-retiring-ufc-325-headliner-gives-definitive-update-fighting-future\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Volk might retire after his fight<\/a> because it\u2019s in Australia, but you don\u2019t know, do ya,\u201d Pimblett told Tom Aspinall in a recent interview. \u201cPeople say that all the time and then fight again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">\u201cI think if I win and he wins, and I get upgraded to undisputed champ, it wouldn\u2019t surprise me if he thinks that\u2019s the perfect opportunity to win the Lightweight belt,\u201d Pimblett added. \u201cI don\u2019t want to fight Volk \u2014 I proper like Volk \u2014 but he\u2019s probably looking at it like, \u2018That\u2019s my best chance to become Lightweight champion: beating Paddy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Of course, this scenario hinges on several moving pieces. Topuria could be sidelined for an extended period amid <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/ufc-news\/410121\/ilia-topuria-accuses-wife-of-attempted-extortion-over-false-allegations-of-domestic-abuse\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">personal issues related to his ongoing divorce<\/a>, and Pimblett has openly stated that if the champion can\u2019t defend in 2026, he hopes the belt would be vacated to avoid stalling the division.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Still, all of this is hypothetical.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Time will tell if the stars align \u2014 or if this remains nothing more than wishful thinking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">To see who else is fighting at UFC 324 click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/ufc-fight-cards\/406095\/ufc-324-fight-card-start-time-date-location-gaethje-vs-pimblett\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If Pimblett pulls off the upset, a blockbuster showdown with undisputed champion Ilia Topuria would seemingly be next&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,40762,785,85,1396,179146,14855],"class_list":["post-392116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-latest-ufc-mma-news","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc-news","tag-ufc-on-paramount","tag-videos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}