Paddy Pimblett took up Islam Makhachev.
In just a few days, Makhachev will look to add his name to the history books when the former lightweight titleholder challenges reigning welterweight king Jack Della Maddalena in the UFC 322 main event at Madison Square Garden.
In May, Makhachev relinquished his lightweight belt after announcing his attempt to move up the ranks and become a two-division champion. A month later, Ilia Topuria established herself as Makhachev’s successor, handily defeating Charles Oliviera and adding the 155-pound crown to his own growing collection of accolades.
Since then, Pimblett has emerged as the favorite to challenge Topuria for his newly acquired gold after the two had a heated confrontation following Topuria’s win over ‘Do Bronx’ at UFC 317.
While there is plenty of backstory to justify Topuria vs. Pimblett easy sell to fight fans, Makhachev doesn’t see ‘The Baddy’ posing much of a threat to Topuria.
“No, human [Paddy is not a real challenge]”, Makhachev told ESPN. “Arman [Tsarukyan] should be next, because this man deserves it, you know. He made a mistake when he had to fight me… But he’s still number one in the division and he has to fight for the title.
Needless to say, Pimblett did not appreciate Makhachev’s comments.
“I definitely hope JDM hits his head in, yeah, I hope JDM hits him,” Pimblett told UFC Europe. “I think JDM is a much better boxer, and if he can keep it going, he will absolutely beat him, and I hope he does.
“Islam was chatting with the pony the other day and said who did I beat when he got the title in the lightweight category after beating Bobby Green, someone I beat faster than [him]the little rascal. What about Islam? Go back to lightweight and I’ll bash your head in too.
A clash between Pimblett and Makhachev once seemed ludicrous, but after the Liverpool side started to rack up big wins, fans started salivating over the idea.
Unfortunately, Makhachev didn’t stick around long enough to finish the fight.
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