Paddy Pimblett has the utmost confidence that he’s the man to beat UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria.<\/p>\n
Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) faced off with Pimblett in the octagon immediately after knocking out Charles Oliveira to claim the vacant belt at UFC 317<\/a> in June. Arman Tsarukyan and Justin Gaethje were also in attendance for that fight.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Pimblett (22-4 MMA, 7-0 UFC) hasn’t been guaranteed the title shot, but if he is granted that opportunity, he has a bold prediction of how their fight would go.<\/p>\n “I’d absolutely smash his face in for him,” Pimblett said in an interview with James Sweetnam<\/a>. “I can see me beating him anywhere the fight goes, to be honest. People put him on a pedestal now. They think he’s this big, amazing thing, when I’ll bring him crashing back down to earth in a big way.”<\/p>\n Pimblett and Topuria’s rivalry stems from a hotel altercation during a UFC London fight week<\/a> in March 2022. They continued to trade barbs during the UFC 282 pre-fight press conference and are finally aligned for a potential fight after Pimblett emerged as a top contender with a dominant TKO of Michael Chandler at UFC 314<\/a>.<\/p>\n