Dana White’s Reaction to Paddy Pimblett & Ilia Topuria Face-Off After UFC 317

UFC head Dana White was not a fan of Paddy Pimblett entering the Octagon and squaring up with Ilia Topuria after he had just won the vacant lightweight title.

Topuria had just finished a first-round victory over Charles Oliveira when Pimblett made his way into the cage, with the pair exchanging some choice words before being separated by security.

During his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Topuria snubbed #1 contender Arman Tsarukyan of the next title shot because he had withdrawn from a title fight with Islam Makhachev due to a back injury. While he was obviously talking about Tsarukyan, Rogan had misunderstood him and thought he was addressing the #8-ranked contender, Paddy Pimblett.

“Paddy’s in the audience, let’s see if we can get him to come up,” Rogan said on the microphone.

The new two-weight world champion Topuria fired his shot, calling Pimblett a “p*****” as the Brit insisted he couldn’t replicate his performance against Oliveira on him. The Georgian then fired back at his potential future challenger, stating: “Watch what is going to happen with you. I’m going to take your head out. I’m going to submit you, you little p*****. I’m going to put my balls on your forehead, you p****.”

A push from Topuria subsequently ended the heated showdown as security guards split up the pair.

Dana White’s Reaction to Paddy Pimblett & Ilia Topuria Facing Off

The head honcho wasn’t happy

During the post-fight press conference, White expressed his unhappiness with the situation: “I don’t know who let him in there, that should never have happened.

He then added, speaking about the chances of Topuria vs Pimblett next: “I don’t know, I don’t really think about that stuff tonight… but we’ll see.

“My thing with Ilia Topuria is his wife and kid are in the Octagon… That’s not the fight,” White said of Topuria and Pimblett facing off. “Well, that’s not really what we do,” he then responded after a reporter said the face-off was ‘fun to watch.’

Ilia Topuria Next Fight

There are a few options for the new lightweight champion

It’s pretty much guaranteed that Topuria will defend his belt next against one of Pimblett, Tsarukyan, or Justin Gaethje next. The post-fight clash between Topuria and Pimblett sets up that fight perfectly, but White is seemingly swaying more towards a bout with No. 1-ranked lightweight Tsarukyan. He was meant to fight for the belt at 155lbs against Makhachev at UFC 311 in January, but missed weight and pulled out with an injury.

Topuria, meanwhile, suggested that Pimblett is his ideal next opponent after being crowned the new lightweight champion due to the hatred he has for the Liverpool man. The Spaniard is now undefeated in nine successive UFC bouts, having knocked out three legends of the game in his previous outings. Pimblett, though, has surged to become the No. 8-ranked UFC lightweight since defeating Michael Chandler at UFC 314 in April.

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