Paddy Pimblett talks Michael Chandler, Ilia Topuria, Conor McGregor & possible WWE run

At UFC 314, lightweight star Paddy Pimblett will attempt to pick up the biggest win of his career to date when he locks horns with Michael Chandler. The 30-year-old has put together a six-fight win streak since arriving in the promotion but if he can get past the former Bellator champion, he’ll set himself up nicely as he continues to pursue UFC gold.

During a recent interview with AceOdds.com, Pimblett revealed what he considers to be the most dangerous part of Chandler’s game.

“His explosiveness, his knockout power. He can bang lad! You know what I mean? He can bang. He comes trying to take people’s heads off, but as you know, I don’t get knocked out. He won’t be knocking me out.

“I don’t think he’ll grapple with me at all. I think he knows if he grapples with me, I’ll beat him.”

Another man who Paddy has been heavily linked with in recent years is Ilia Topuria. The two men have a long-running rivalry dating back to some harsh words that were exchanged on social media, which eventually led to a physical confrontation back in 2022 ahead of a UFC London card they were both competing on.

We asked ‘The Baddy’ what he’d say to ‘El Matador’ if they were put in a room together - and he had precisely the kind of answer you’d expect.

“Without me, he wouldn’t be featherweight champion”

“You’re a p***y. He’s just, he’s fake, lad. He’s a proper fake. He still lies about me today, lad. He still says that I said it was funny that a bomb got dropped on Georgians and killed Georgian children. Why make things up?

“I was on Twitter, and I saw that Guram Kutateladze, another Georgian, had said something to me. I looked at his picture, and I was like, ‘he looks Russian’, and I just said to him, ‘shut up you fake Russian’.

“They all got the back up off me, mentioning Russia annoys these guys, and they all started chatting s***. So, I ended up just f***ing saying to Guram, ‘shut up, no wonder Russia terrorizes you’, meaning, in the cage. Because, you know, all the Russians are good like Islam and all that.”

“I went to bed and I woke up the next morning, and I had about a thousand notifications on my Twitter saying, are you talking about war? Countries at war. Like, what are you on about? What war?

“Do you think in British schools we get taught about f***ing wars in Russia?

“Like, what? And then I found literally, I found out the next day that Russia and Georgia had been at war.”

Paddy went on to make a pretty big claim about the monumental rise that Topuria has experienced in the last couple of years.

“I think he used me to get, like, a bit of a name. Without having all that with me, he wouldn’t have got a title shot so fast. Without me, he wouldn’t be featherweight champion because no one f***ing knew who he was.

“Without me, he wouldn't have got that rush up to the belt. But I have to say, he only got a title shot as Volk had cleared the division out. He'd only beat Bryce Mitchell and f***ing Josh Emmett. He didn't even fight Yair Rodríguez. He didn’t fight Arnold Allen, he didn't fight Brian Ortega. Didn't fight any of the top five to get a title shot. He just beat Josh Emmett, who was about 40.”

While Pimblett and Ilia are two of the biggest names in the promotion, there’s one undisputed megastar in the world of mixed martial arts: Conor McGregor. When asked about the possibility of the two colliding in a superfight, the Liverpudlian reiterated that he’d love to make it happen.

“Yeah, of course. Anyone wants to fight Conor because he’s the biggest name in the sport. He’s gonna bring the biggest crowd, and he’s gonna bring the most money. You’re gonna get the most pay-per-view points from fighting Conor. I’d love to fight Conor, but now, I don’t think he’s ever gonna come back now, I’ll be honest.”

“We fight to put food on the table for our family and kids, and he doesn’t need to do that again.”

“That would be an amazing fight against Conor at Croke Park or Anfield. But, it’s one of them. He’s done now, I think.”

As we know, the Irishman has been heavily linked to a boxing match against both Jake and Logan Paul in recent times - in addition to a potential stint with WWE. As it turns out, the same is true for Paddy, and he definitely has a preference.

The Baddy swings WWE door wide open

“I could see myself going into any [wrestling or boxing], but I’ve said for years that I’ll end up doing a bit of professional wrestling. When I was a kid growing up, I loved the WWE. I always watched it. DX, Shawn Michaels, my favourite of all time. I’d love to have a little go with WWE.

“I’d definitely be more suited to go into professional wrestling. Years ago I’d always said like, when Jake Paul was first starting out, I thought I’d beat him in a boxing match - but now, I think he’s a much better boxer than he was. He’s really improved and he’s so much bigger than me, and he’s on steroids. So, I don’t think I’d beat him anymore.”

“So, I’d definitely rather wrestle Logan Paul at WrestleMania. I would love to get into wrestling, lad. I’ve always said that. I love WrestleMania. It’d be unbelievable to do.”

Finally, as a diehard Liverpool fan, it won’t come as much of a shock to learn that Paddy isn’t overly pleased by the prospect of Trent Alexander-Arnold leaving Anfield in the summer.

“Very disappointed. His older brother went to school with me for a year. He’s from West Derby, not far from where I’m from. I don’t understand why he’d leave us now. The best team in the world. [Steven] Gerrard was playing in a team ten times worse and was carrying us on his own individually, and he never left.

“He might have had his head turned a little bit by Mourinho and Chelsea and some other clubs, but did he leave? No. So, I just hope he stays, lad. It’s one of them like Klopp said.

"Klopp said to Coutinho, stay here and you can be a legend - leave and you'll just be another player. Trent could stay, lad, because nowadays, these players that are fit, he could play until 35, 40 years of age. Look at James Milner.

"Trent could stay and be a legend and have a f***ing statue built after him. But, he could also leave if he wants to. Personally, I think it looks like he's already got his bags packed."

"I can't see Mo Salah leaving. I can't see Virgil van Dijk leaving. But, the main one of the three to stay is Virgil, the heart of the team. I think Salah wants to break more records, and Virgil is gonna stay anyway. So, I think these two are staying."

“It’s also different for Trent. He hasn’t got a family. Trent’s a single lad. He loves his fashion, Madrid is like a fashion hotspot. His best mate Jude Bellingham plays for them.”

"Everyone's like 'oh, Liverpool are gonna be finished next season when they leave'. But everyone said we were finished this season when Klopp left. Yeah, so, let's see what happens."