Ilia Topuria has heard the whispers about coaching The Ultimate Fighter opposite Paddy Pimblett, but nobody from the UFC has actually picked up the phone. Speaking with ABC, the former two-division champion kept the door open without walking through it.
“I’ve heard some rumors, but I haven’t had any conversations with the UFC,” Topuria said. “I don’t know what their interests are. When we resume talks with them, we’ll see if we’re on the same page.”
He added that his priority is getting back into the gym and feeling healthy before committing to anything. That’s the first time Topuria has shown any public interest in a coaching stint against Pimblett, which matters, because the Liverpudlian has been campaigning for it since at least 2023, when he told MMA Junkie he’d love to do a season against El Matador.
The timing finally lines up. Topuria is coming off the first loss of his career, a brutal stoppage at the hands of Justin Gaethje at UFC White House, and has confirmed his return timeline begins in April 2027. Back in 2023 the weight classes killed the idea, with Topuria at featherweight and Pimblett at lightweight. Now they share a division, and they share a grudge that dates to an altercation at the UFC London fighter hotel in 2022.
The promotion seems interested. Asked about a Topuria vs. Pimblett season at the UFC 332 post-fight press conference, Dana White said he loves the idea, though he wouldn’t commit because it’s too early.
Pimblett, predictably, is all in. He told MMA Pro Picks he’d get under Topuria’s skin badly enough to finish him as quickly as Conor McGregor finished Jose Aldo. “’The Ultimate Fighter’ would be a very entertaining six weeks, to say the least, if it was me and him,” he said. Pimblett is riding momentum, too, after submitting Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 329, and he has argued the Gaethje knockout left Topuria with scars he can exploit.
Topuria went straight at the part of Pimblett’s game most people consider his best weapon. “Paddy on the ground just grappling doesn’t win a single point against me. He doesn’t take me down. He doesn’t pass my guard,” he told ABC. He also called Pimblett a pushover and mocked his sausage body, dismissing the idea that Pimblett’s size gives him an edge.
For reference, Topuria was 17-0 when he knocked out Charles Oliveira in Round 1 at UFC 317 on June 28, 2025. He’s mostly made his name with his hands, and he has said knocking people out comes easier to him than grappling, but there’s a Greco-Roman wrestling background underneath it, and he’s flashed it against Youssef Zalal, Oliveira and even Gaethje.
My take: book the season. Pimblett talks better than almost anyone on the roster, Topuria clearly can’t resist answering him, and six weeks of that buildup would do more for an April 2027 return than any press tour. On the fight itself, I’d be careful about waving off Pimblett on the mat after what he did to Saint Denis, but Topuria’s wrestling base is exactly why his takedown boast reads like a game plan to me. Until the UFC and Topuria’s camp actually sit down, though, this stays exactly what Topuria called it, a rumor.
