Credit: GETTYILIA TOPURIA has brutally rubbed salt into the wounds of Paddy Pimblett ahead of his MMA return.
The ‘s former pound-for-pound and current lightweight king is gearing up to make his grand return on the White House lawn on June 14.
Paddy Pimblett came up short against Justin Gaethje in their interim lightweight title fight in January Credit: SHUTTERSTOCK
Lightweight king Ilia Topuria has brutally mocked ‘The Baddy’ over his ill-fated title fight Credit: GETTY
He will be welcomed back to the cage by fan favourite and interim titleholder , with whom he’ll top the .
Brit likely would’ve stood across the cage from ‘El Matador’ had he won his January joust with Gaethje, who left him .
During an appearance on The Ariel Hewlani Show , Topuria, who , said of the fight: “I was a little surprised by how bad Paddy really is.
“I was expecting him to win. I was expecting him to take Justin down to do a different fight, to really fight.
“But what he did inside the Octagon in that fight surprised me a little bit. He really proved that he’s a little sausage.”
In the aftermath of his first defeat in ‘s top promotion, a battered and bruised Pimblett vowed to regroup and get back in the title mix.
But Topuria, 29, doesn’t foresee the Liverpudlian ever making good on his vow.
When asked if he thinks his rival can bounce back, he replied: “Of course.
UFC White House Card In Full
Ilia Topuria v Justin Gaethje – Lightweight title unification fight
Alex Pereira vs Cyril Gane – Interim heavyweight title fight
Sean O’Malley vs Aiemann Zahabi – men’s bantamweight bout
Mauricio Ruffy vs Michael Chandler – lightweight bout
Bo Nickal vs Kyle Daukaus – middleweight bout
Diego Lopes vs Steve Garcia – featherweight bout
Derrick Lewis vs Josh Hokit – heavyweight bout
“But how is he going to gain the skills, the technique in the sport?
“That’s basically impossible. He needs to die and be born again.”
A fight between Topuria and Pimblett was, less than 12 months ago, one of the biggest the UFC could make.
But as far as Topuria’s now concerned, the former Cage Warrior’s featherweight champion is no longer on his radar.
He said: “No, [I don’t think we’ll ever fight at this point]. He’s too far; we don’t see Paddy on the horizon.
“We don’t see him anymore. Bye Paddy.
“I didn’t even have to go inside the octagon to beat him, so that feels a little bit better, to be honest.”
Ilia Topuria vs Justin Gaethje serves as the main event of UFC Freedom 250 Credit: UFC
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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