"He is an interchangeable mediocrity"- Chael Sonnen reveals initial thoughts on Ilia Topuria during heated feud with future "star" Paddy Pimblett

Chael Sonnen recently admitted that he initially underestimated Ilia Topuria, dismissing him as an "interchangeable mediocrity" when the Georgian-Spanish fighter first gained attention in the UFC. At the time, Topuria was primarily known for his altercation with Paddy Pimblett.

Tensions boiled over between them at UFC London in March 2022, leading to a fiery exchange that included a hand sanitizer bottle being tossed. Sonnen viewed Topuria as just another name on the UFC roster, overshadowed by rising "star" Pimblett.

However, during a recent episode of ESPN MMA's Good Guy / Bad Guy, Sonnen admitted that he was mistaken about Topuria. With Pimblett’s personality dominating the narrative, Sonnen didn’t pay much attention to Topuria’s skill set or potential.

However, as time passed, the Georgian-Spanish fighter made it impossible to ignore him. He said:

"I didn’t know what Ilia Topuria was, I didn’t know if those were first name, last name, nicknames... I’d never heard of the guy. And the first time I hear of him, he’s known as ‘Mr. Hand Sanitizer’ because Paddy threw a hand sanitizer bottle and hit him in the head with it... And I remember reading about this Ilia Topuria and I remember thinking, ‘Hey, this guy better calm down because he is an interchangeable mediocrity, and Paddy is a return on your investment star."

Sonnen added:

"When I looked this guy up, he was 12-0, and then I learned something else about him. He does his best work with his boxing, but he was originally a Greco-Roman wrestler. I started reading about Mr. Hand Sanitizer and I started realizing we’ve got a potential world champion on our hands."

Check out Chael Sonnen's comments below (21:00):

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Paddy Pimblett weighs in on a potential lightweight clash against Ilia Topuria

Paddy Pimblett is eager to welcome Ilia Topuria to the lightweight division, claiming he’s much bigger than 'El Matador'. Topuria, who had an impressive 2024 with knockout wins over featherweight legends Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, is eyeing a move to 155 pounds.

Despite Topuria’s success, Pimblett feels he’s been fast-tracked to a title shot, arguing that Topuria didn’t have to face other top contenders like Brian Ortega or Yair Rodriguez. Weighing in on a potential clash against Topuria in a recent interview with Daniel Cortes, Pimblett said:

“Ilia’s a midget. People don’t understand how much bigger I am than Ilia. I’m so much bigger than him; people don’t realize. I’d love to do a stare-down with him, just so everyone can see how much bigger I actually am than him... Don’t get me wrong, he’s very good. Just because I don’t like him doesn’t mean I’m going to sit here and lie. He’s a very good fighter. He is. But I also think he got fast-tracked to the belt because [Volkanovski] had cleared the featherweight division out already." [H/t: MMA Fighting]

Check out the full interview below: