Pimblett rules out Topuria fight in 2025 after Gaethje's White House damage

Paddy Pimblett has cooled expectations of a showdown with Ilia Topuria this year, insisting the former featherweight champion is too badly hurt from his UFC White House title loss to Justin Gaethje to return before 2026 — and that Pimblett himself wants to compete again before the year is out.

Speaking ahead of his UFC 329 co-main event bout against Benoit Saint Denis on July 11, Pimblett told Spinnin Backfist that the persistent calls for a Topuria fight simply don’t match the timeline. “Everyone keeps saying, ‘Fight Ilia next,’” Pimblett said. “That man’s face is mashed up. He’s not coming back before the end of the year and I’d like to fight again before the end of the year. So we’re just going to see what happens.”

Pimblett had his own shot at setting up that rivalry on his terms earlier in 2025, but dropped a decision to Gaethje in January in a bid for the interim UFC lightweight title. Rather than harbour resentment, Pimblett has reframed the defeat in almost philosophical terms. “I’ve got no animosity towards Justin Gaethje,” he said. “He beat me. Better man won on the night. I think it was fate for him to beat me so he could beat Ilia on the White House lawn and be the American in the main event who wins the title. I just think it was destiny.”

Despite shelving the Topuria fight for now, Pimblett made clear the bad blood between the two has not faded. He remains convinced that a lightweight contest would expose Topuria as undersized for the division. “I always say it: We have weight classes for a reason,” Pimblett said. “Ilia Topuria is a fat featherweight. He’s not a lightweight. If I ever fight him, people will realize that. If he fights me, he will move back down to featherweight, because he will realize how small he is for the weight.”

A rematch with Gaethje — now the undisputed lightweight champion — is also on Pimblett’s radar further down the line, though he is not treating a win over Saint Denis as an automatic ticket back to title contention. First, the Liverpudlian must navigate a dangerous co-main event assignment before any of those larger ambitions can be revisited.