Morning Report: Paddy Pimblett thinks Ilia Topuria is 'scared to fight' Max Holloway: 'He knows what's going to happen'

Paddy Pimblett is still not convinced by Ilia Topuria.

The feud between the British “Bad Boy” and the unbeaten 15-0 “El Spaniard” truly feels like it happened a decade ago. In fact, Pimblett and Topuria nearly came to blows two years ago at the UFC hotel in London when they were scheduled to face Rodrigo Vargas and Jai Herbert, respectively, in a lightweight bout.

The match between Topuria and “The Black Country Banger” was a one-off at 155 pounds, with the fighter scoring an emphatic knockout in the second round before returning to featherweight. In February of this year, Topuria lived up to his promise, defeating the legendary Alexander Volkanovski, again with a second-round knockout, to claim the division's title. His next opponent will likely be former champion Max Holloway in what will be his first title defense. If that happens, Pimblett believes his old rival will only be fighting once as a titleholder.

“I feel like everyone else, everyone's rooting for Max, you know that? Hand Sanitizer Boy is scared to take the fight and doesn't want to fight Max because he knows what's going to happen.”

“He fought [Alex] Volkanovski came back at the perfect time, about 10 weeks after getting knocked out. Honestly, he was lucky.”

The 29-year-old Pimblett also won on the same night Topuria beat Herbert, completing a first-round rear-naked choke on Vargas. He has since won three more bouts to extend his current winning streak to seven (five UFC wins, 21-3 overall).

The former Cage Warriors champion will next compete against Bobby Green at UFC 304 on July 27 in Manchester, England, to earn his place in the UFC's official lightweight top 15. After that, he already knows what he wants: a bout with his original target, Renato Moicano, before moving on to try and win the championship.

“Let's see what happens with Moicano after I beat Bobby,” Pimblett said. “Everybody wanted to see me against Moicano, so let's see what happens with Moicano after I beat Bobby.”

“Obviously, I think everyone is saying they want to fight Conor McGregor. [as their dream fight] “Because there's money involved. Personally, it's Islam Makhachev. Whoever has the belt, I want to fight whoever has it. I want to prove that I'm the best in the world.”

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Josiane Nunes (10-2) vs. Jacqueline Cavalcanti (6-1); UFC Las Vegas 96, August 24

It's not a good look, Paddy. We'll have to leave the matter alone at this stage.

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