Pimblett Mocks Topuria's Three-Country Fanbase as Grudge Fight Nears

Paddy Pimblett has never been short of opinions about Ilia Topuria, but his latest attack went straight for the former champion's identity. Appearing on The Joe Rogan Experience on November 12, the Liverpool lightweight questioned Topuria's ties to three different countries and claimed the Spaniard's support base is already crumbling.

"Is he Georgian, is he Spanish, is he German? You pick one, lad. You can't be all three," Pimblett said. "Stop trying to get a fanbase from three different countries."

The jab landed at a moment when Topuria is at the lowest point of his career. The former two-division champion lost his lightweight title and his unbeaten record to Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250 in June, and he has spent the months since plotting a comeback in 2027. Pimblett, ranked fifth at lightweight, has made no secret that he wants to be the man waiting for him.

The three-country jab

Topuria's background is, in fairness, straightforward. He was born in Germany to Georgian parents and moved to Spain at the age of 15, and he has represented all three countries in different ways during his rise. Pimblett argued that the shifting allegiances were a deliberate attempt to harvest support from three separate fanbases, and he claimed the Spanish audience had already begun to drift away.

"I've heard everyone's turned on him anyway," Pimblett said. "There was little ruffles of it before he lost to Justin, but then obviously it's went worse since he lost to Justin."

Pimblett then warned that a loss to him would finish the job.

"It'll be heavy if I fight him and he loses again then. He won't have any fans left," he added.

A feud built over four years

The nationality dig was only part of the conversation. Pimblett also claimed credit for Topuria's rise, arguing that their long-running feud gave the Georgian-born star the platform he needed to become a household name.

"When all that tweeting shit was getting done, I'm just tweeting back to people... I didn't even know who the fuck [he] was," Pimblett said. "Give him his due, he built up fast. But as I said, I don't think he would have been built up that fast if he didn't use my name for clout."

The bad blood dates back to March 2022, when the pair clashed at a fighter hotel in London in an incident remembered for a thrown bottle of hand sanitiser and a volley of insults. Pimblett later apologised for social-media comments about Georgia made during the dispute, but the rivalry never cooled. Despite years of exchanges, the two men have never actually fought.

They came closest at UFC 317 on June 28, 2025, when Topuria faced off with Pimblett inside the cage at T-Mobile Arena after beating Charles Oliveira. The confrontation put the matchup firmly in the spotlight, but no bout followed. Topuria went on to build a championship resume that included knockout wins over Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway and Oliveira, before Gaethje ended his unbeaten run on the South Lawn of the White House.

Two men chasing the same champion

What makes the latest exchange more than trash talk is that both men are now circling the same target. Gaethje holds the lightweight title, and the queue behind him is crowded. Topuria asked fans on Instagram on November 7 to choose between a Gaethje rematch and a grudge fight with Pimblett, and more than 850,000 people voted in less than 24 hours. Gaethje won the poll with 55 percent of the vote.

Topuria tagged UFC president Dana White in the results, but Gaethje has since shut down talk of rematches against either man in 2027, suggesting instead that Arman Tsarukyan is the fighter he will defend the title against if he opts against retirement. That leaves Topuria and Pimblett looking at each other, and Topuria has already named Pimblett as his preferred opponent for an April return, promising: "I'll eat him like a sausage, which he is."

Pimblett, for his part, is coming off a 52-second D'Arce choke submission of Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 329 on July 11, a win that lifted him to fifth in the lightweight rankings and took his professional record to 24-4. It answered his own first UFC defeat, a five-round unanimous decision loss to Gaethje in an interim title fight at UFC 324 in January. He has said he is "not close" to a booking and expects to return in March or April, with Topuria the name he wants.

What happens next

No fight has been announced between the pair, and the UFC has not confirmed a date. White has supported Pimblett's call for a season of The Ultimate Fighter featuring the two men coaching against each other ahead of a grudge match inside the cage, a format that would give a rivalry built on four years of insults a full television run before the first punch is thrown.

Pimblett believes Topuria will never be the same fighter after losing for the first time, and he has called the former champion "damaged goods" since the Gaethje defeat. Topuria, still the top-ranked lightweight contender despite the loss, clearly believes a win over the sport's loudest Scouser would restore his aura in one night.

For now, the fight exists only in words, polls and podcast appearances — but if the UFC books it for the spring, neither man will need a press conference to sell it.