LONDON – [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] doesn’t seem to have interest in fighting Ilia Topuria.
The UFC standout brushed off Topuria’s callout at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 204 in London. Topuria called out Pimblett (18-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and expressed his interest in fighting him all throughout fight week following their Tuesday altercation, and then again after his knockout win over Jai Herbert.
Topuria called Pimblett a “blond b*tch” in his in-cage post-fight interview with Michael Bisping and said he wanted to meet Pimblett in the octagon.
Like Topuria, Pimblett was successful and picked up a stoppage win on the main card of the event. Pimblett submitted Kazula Vargas in the first round – and he didn’t seem keen on accepting Topuria’s challenge.
“Everyone wants to fight me,” Pimblett told reporters at the post-fight news conference. “Everyone wants to hang on my coattails. No one knew who Ilia Topuria – or ‘hand sanitizer boy’ – was until he tried to start an altercation with me. No one knew who he was. I’m the draw. Everyone wants to fight me.”
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Despite not having much love for Topuria, Pimblett did give him credit for his knockout win over Herbert. A massive right hand from Topuria put Herbert out cold to the canvas and was one of nine $50,000 bonus winners in London.
“I’ll give him his due – it was a good knockout,” Pimblett said. “It was a very good knockout, especially after taking that head kick in the face. But if I hit him with that head kick like that, I’d finish him. As I said, he’s just ‘hand-sanitizer boy’ to me. A lion doesn’t concern themselves with the opinion of sheep.”
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