Paddy Pimblett goes nuclear on "little sausage" Ilia Topuria for lightweight move, claims 'El Matador' is "trying to copy his idol Conor McGregor"

Paddy Pimblett believes that Ilia Topuria's return to lightweight is motivated by both fear and admiration. In a recent interview with combat sports reporter Aaron Bronsteter, 'The Baddy' scoffed at 'El Matador's' decision to vacate his UFC featherweight belt in favor of a permanent move to lightweight.

According to Pimblett, Topuria only did so out of fear, accusing him of not being confident in beating an Alexander Volkanovski who is refreshed and not dealing with the potential damage of a recent knockout loss:

"He's not big enough at all. Can't believe he vacated his belt, lad. He's running away from Volk. I think he knows that if he catches Volk with that punch and it's not 12 weeks after he's just been head-kicked and ground-and-pounded by Islam it doesn't knock him out. And Volk was winning that fight, so I think he's thought, 'I'm good with fighting Volk again. I'll move up.'"

He also accused the Spaniard of giving in to his fandom of Conor McGregor, whom he has been repeatedly accused of copying throughout the years:

"But he had Volk, Lopes, Evloev to fight. I think if he would have done three defenses, he wouldn't have had to vacate his belt. He would've just moved up and fought for it. Trying to be double champ, trying to copy his idol Conor McGregor. He's copied his tattoos and all that, little sausage."

Check out Paddy Pimblett's thoughts on Ilia Topuria's lightweight move:

Topuria last fought at lightweight in early 2022 at UFC Fight Night 204, where he knocked out Jai Herbert in round two after surviving a scary knockdown in round one.

Meanwhile, Pimblett is now gearing up to take on former UFC lightweight title challenger Michael Chandler at UFC 314.

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Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria have a well-known feud

Paddy Pimblett is a trash-talker and rarely has anything positive to say about other fighters. There was a time when he and Ilia Topuria traded jabs on social media, culminating in 'The Baddy' making an insensitive remark about the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, which enraged many of MMA's Georgian fighters.

This birthed a bitter feud between him and Topuria, leading to a violent confrontation in a fighter hotel, where Pimblett threw a hand sanitizer bottle at Topuria. The two men have been at each other's throats since.

Check out the melee between Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria: