Jorge Masvidal has a stadium in mind, and he thinks Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett could fill every seat of it. In a clip from @MMAFullMount that Dovy shared on X on Friday, the former welterweight contender called the pairing the most lucrative matchup available to the promotion right now. He framed it as a booking problem with an easy answer.
Masvidal imagined someone handing him a 100,000-seat building to fill. He described the hypothetical this way: “We’ve got to fill up a 100,000 person stadium somewhere in Europe or anywhere in the world.” His answer was Pimblett first. “Paddy is a star in America,” he said, adding that “This dude would sell out T-Mobile Arena in America.” Then he turned to the other side of the poster. “And then you have Ilia, who has all of Latin America.” He landed the pitch with a line any matchmaker would want framed on the office wall: “You put both of these guys together, numbers wise, this is the biggest fight the UFC can make.”
The clip came out on a day when Topuria was everywhere on fight timelines, though mostly for a fight that went the wrong way for him. The UFC released corner footage from his loss to Justin Gaethje, and it tells a story that turns in the third round. In the second, Topuria dropped Gaethje with a body shot. Championship Rounds pointed out that Trevor Wittman, Gaethje’s coach, was smiling as his fighter went down, which is either a coach’s poker face or something only Wittman can explain.
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Between rounds, Topuria’s brother Aleksandre told him to stay calm and pointed to the cards in his own reckoning. “You’re up 2-0 brother,” he said in the footage. After the result went to Gaethje, the same brother was the one consoling him. “You’re the best. This is a sport. You’re a man and that’s what matters most.” It’s a small, human moment, the kind the cameras usually miss, and it says more about the Topuria camp than any walkout. Topuria, for his part, has kept working. Championship Rounds also posted images from a new Montirex photoshoot on the same day.
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Masvidal’s clip didn’t specify a date, an opponent’s weight class or any sign that the UFC has talked to either camp, so this is a pundit’s pitch and nothing more. No fight between Topuria and Pimblett has been announced.
My take: Masvidal knows what sells better than most, and his read on Pimblett’s American following lines up with the crowds that have turned out for him. But the timing is rough for the pitch. Topuria just lost a fight his own corner believed he was winning on the cards going into the third, and a stadium-sized promotion usually needs a fighter coming off a win, ideally a loud one. If the UFC ever wants to chase Masvidal’s 100,000-seat number, Topuria probably has to beat somebody first. Then the phone calls get interesting.
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