Paddy Pimblett Worries That The Ghost of Jon Jones May Haunt Ilia Topuria: “Stop holding the division up”
Paddy Pimblett wants Ilia Topuria to vacate the lightweight championship, as Pimblett does not want to be stuck in a similar situation as his compatriot Tom Aspinall, who previously waited for more than a year to fight Jon Jones.
Topuria is currently on hiatus due to personal reasons and is expected to enter the octagon after the first quarter of 2026. However, recent reports and rumors suggest that Topuria’s return might be delayed because of legal complications and proceedings related to his divorce. Since the UFC lightweight champion is not injured nor sick, there have been debates in the MMA community about stripping ‘El Matador.’
Pimblett, who shares bad blood with the Georgian-Spaniard, has shown support for Topuria recently. However, ‘The Baddy’ thinks Topuria should vacate instead of holding the division up if the rumors of ‘El Matador’ not returning to fight for almost a year or more are true.
Paddy Pimblett wants Ilia Topuria to vacate if ‘El Matador’ is going to sit out for long amid personal issues
During a recent sit-down with Tom Aspinall, Paddy Pimblett said that he does not want to be in a Jones–Aspinall-type situation. For the unversed, Aspinall vs. Jones never materialized. At that time, Aspinall was the interim heavyweight champ, and Jones was the undisputed champion. However, ‘Bones’ did not want to unify the belts by fighting Aspinall and ultimately decided to retire.
Pimblett, who will take on Justin Gaethje at UFC 324 for the interim UFC lightweight championship, does not want to wait for Topuria and be in a similar situation if he beats ‘The Highlight.’ He said:
“People are saying Ilia’s not gonna be back for at least a year. People are saying it could get messy and it could end up being like two years. If he’s gonna sit out for that long I’d rather him just vacate and stop holding the division up.”
Check out Paddy Pimblett’s comments below:
Pimblett, however, reaffirmed his desire to fight Topuria and settle the bad blood that has been brewing since the inception of their UFC careers.
