Ilia Topuria has decided the lightweight champion doesn’t count. In an interview with Álvaro Colmenero for ABC.es, which Championship Rounds clipped and posted to X on Friday, the 29-year-old dismissed Justin Gaethje outright and said the title holder has no voice in what happens next at 155 pounds.
“He won’t have any say in absolutely anything,” Topuria said. “He doesn’t call any shots. This is between the UFC and me. Whatever we decide, whatever’s best for us, that’s what Justin will do. Justin is a nobody.”
Then he pushed it further. If the UFC books him against Paddy Pimblett, Topuria argued, Gaethje would get bumped down the card even with the belt. “Imagine, if I fight Paddy, Justin even as the champion would have to be the co-main event. Who could you match him with that would be bigger than my fight with Paddy?”
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The Pimblett Breakdown
Topuria (17-1) saved his most colorful material for Pimblett. “I’ll eat him up like the sausage he is,” he said. “With that head of his, just throw a punch in his direction and you’ll hit him.”
He kept going, picking apart Pimblett’s game piece by piece. According to Topuria, Pimblett thinks his size will carry him, and he wouldn’t win a standup exchange. Topuria said Pimblett lacks a one-shot knockout punch, never surprises anyone with takedowns and doesn’t pull submissions out of thin air. “Paddy is very predictable. You can see everything he’s trying to do.”
The odd detail in the middle of all that is the line Topuria drew between the two men. “He’s not like Justin. Justin is a dog. Paddy has absolutely nothing.” So Gaethje is a nobody and a dog in the same interview, which tells you the insult is about leverage. He clearly rates Gaethje as a fighter.
Context Topuria Skipped
The last time Topuria and Gaethje shared a cage, Gaethje won. Their fight headlined the UFC White House card, and Topuria didn’t come out for the next round after Gaethje broke his face, as MMA Mania put it. Jed Meshew pointed out on X that in this same ABC.es interview, Topuria acknowledged he believes he would have gone blind if his brother hadn’t stopped the fight. Meshew’s reaction was blunt, telling Topuria to stop being a douche.
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MMA Mania reported that Topuria would gladly headline the UFC’s next numbered event on Paramount+ in early 2027 if matchmakers decide a Pimblett fight is the best play. Nothing has been booked, and no bout agreement has been reported for Topuria, Pimblett or Gaethje.
My take: the Pimblett scouting report is actually sharp, and a lot of people who’ve watched Paddy closely have said similar things in politer language. But you can’t sit on the stool against a guy and then call him a nobody in the same breath where you admit he nearly took your eyesight. Gaethje holds the belt. Topuria holds a loss to him and a microphone. If he wants to call the shots, the cleanest route goes back through the man who beat him. Skipping him for a card topper in early 2027 with the champion stuck in the co-main looks like a detour.
