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Harsh Warning
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Well, okay then.

Ilia Topuria defended his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight championship in incredible fashion at UFC 308 yesterday (Sat., Oct. 26, 2024) when he became the first fighter to knock out UFC legend Max Holloway from inside Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE (watch highlights).

It is safe to say most fighters were impressed by Topuria’s unbelievable feat of knocking out Holloway. One fighter who gave him props and immediately dissed the champion by saying he’d win in a fight was Lightweight Paddy Pimblett.

“Hand sanitizer boy with the win,” Pimblett said on his YouTube channel Heavy. Well done, Ilia, give you your due lad, 16-0 hand sanitizer boy. I can’t wait for him to come back up to Lightweight. I still think I’d beat him. I really do. I still think I beat him, lad. Whether he just beat Max Holloway or not. I still think I’d beat him by kicking him on the feet or taking him down and submitting him.”

To be fair to Pimblett, what was he supposed to say? Especially with the bad blood between the two.

While Pimblett may have all the faith in the world that he beats Topuria, the internet does not.

Some other thoughts on “Baddy’s” crazy take were the following:

Buddy is a special kind of stupid

Even he doesn’t look like he thinks that

Buddy had to repeat himself 3x. Even he doesnt believe that shit haha

Bro was getting hit by washed 0-7 Tony lmao

This is the dude that went to decision with 2023 Tony Ferguson

Paddy lad Max is as tall and you don’t even have a third of his talent in terms of distance management and takedown defense. Your jits is great but it isn’t carrying you over Ilia, come on now.

He’d get his block knocked off.

Topuira would do inhumane things to paddy. Let’s set it up.

As mentioned, Topuria and Pimblett do not like each other and have almost come to blows a few times. Pimblett threw a hand sanitizer bottle at Topuria in 2022.

As of June 2023, Topuria closed the door on the potential matchup.

Nevertheless, Pimblett is waiting for his next fight after dispatching Bobby Green, while Topuria is riding high while knocking out two Featherweight greats back-to-back.

For complete UFC 308 results, coverage, and highlights, click HERE.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Max Holloway might have fought his last fight at 145 pounds.

The former featherweight champion had a chance to regain that title Saturday in the UFC 308 main event, but he instead suffered the first knockout loss of his storied career as he was defeated in the third round by Ilia Topuria.

Only two featherweights have scored wins over Holloway in the past decade, Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski, and Volkanovski was unable to finish Holloway despite the two battling for 75 minutes across three title fights. “Blessed” gave his take on the surprising finish at the evening’s post-fight press conference.

“I felt great,” Holloway said. “I was finding my groove. Saw it on the scoreboards after, I was kind of surprised, I thought I had at least one of them. The first round I know he took me down and at the end he had that takedown so, it is what it is, I felt good. Showing off my hands, I was landing, I was being fast, I think I had him surprised in there. Like I said, I was doing good until I wasn’t.”

“The first couple of rounds he landed a couple of left hooks,” Holloway added. “He took me down, he didn’t feel too strong, and you know, game of inches. Game of inches. He landed something that I found myself looking up from the ground.”

One thing Holloway wouldn’t do is blame the loss on a cut down to featherweight after competing at 155 pounds in his most recent bout. Holloway fought at lightweight in his most recent fight at UFC 300 this past April, when he won the “BMF” title in highlight-reel fashion after capping off a dominant performance against Justin Gaethje with a last-second knockout.

Even with the 145-pound weight cut still being manageable, Holloway thinks a return to lightweight could make sense going forward.

“I had the best ‘45 cut here, but what else is there to do?” Holloway said. “I had a couple of times to reclaim [the featherweight title], new guys coming up, that would be fun, but I think ‘55 looks more fun as fighting just more the caliber, everyone there and the names there, it would look really exciting to put my name in the mix.”

Holloway didn’t say who he’d like to fight at lightweight (when a third fight with Dustin Poirier was suggested, Holloway joked that he’d like to get one back but hasn’t had much luck against opponents who have already beaten him twice), but there are plenty of fan-friendly matchups that make sense for the 32-year-old veteran.

Whatever weight Holloway shows up at next, he doesn’t expect to fight again until mid-2025.

“We’ll sit down with the team, relax, there’s nothing needed to be rushing back right now,” Holloway said. “Probably try to come back summer, big July card in Vegas, do something, see what happens. [The 155-pound division] looks really good right now.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Dustin Poirier was watching UFC 308 and the thrilling event gave him some ideas for his next fight.

First and foremost, Poirier is interested in a fight with either featherweight champion Ilia Topuria or Max Holloway, a declaration he made on social media following the conclusion of Saturday’s UFC event in Abu Dhabi.

Topuria defended his title in stunning fashion with a third-round knockout of Holloway—a feat that made him the first fighter ever to finish Holloway via strikes—and afterwards suggested he would rematch Alexander Volkanovski, who was present to step into the cage and congratulate the featherweight king.

However, Topuria has made it clear he intends to move to lightweight in the future and Poirier wants to be on the list of potential opponents.

“I want Max or Topuria,” Poirier wrote on social media, later adding, “He’s a great boxer, let’s throw them things” presumably still talking about Topuria.

Poirier also mentioned the possibility of fighting Holloway, an opponent he holds two wins over in a pair of memorable contests. The fan favorites first fought at UFC 143 in 2012, when Holloway was just five fights into his pro career, and it was Poirier who walked out with a first-round submission win.

They rematched seven years later at UFC 236, that time for an interim lightweight title. Poirier again emerged victorious, winning a unanimous decision over Holloway in one of the best fights of 2019.

Poirier is coming off of a fifth-round submission loss to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, a result that left him with plenty of options but no clear path back to a title shot. It appears that “The Diamond” has a few ideas to ensure that he remains near the top of the marquee.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Derek Brunson will return to Brazil for a grappling match with Rodolfo Vieira in the main event of ADXC 7, the company announced Friday. The event will take place Nov. 17 in Rio de Janeiro.

Brunson is a veteran of 33 MMA bouts with 24 wins, five of those coming by way of submission. His final UFC victory was a rear-naked choke against Darren Till in 2023. Now under contract with the PFL, the jiu-jitsu black belt fought once in Brazil, defeating Lyoto Machida by first-round knockout in Sao Paulo back in 2017.

Vieira is a decorated jiu-jitsu player with five IBJJF world championships and one ADCC gold medal won throughout his legendary career. Vieira collected nine of his 10 MMA wins by way of submission, tapping his past two opponents in the UFC with arm-triangle chokes.

ADXC 7 will also feature former K-1 HERO’s lightweight champion Gesias Cavalcante, a veteran of 37 MMA fights and multiple grappling matches, taking on Piter Frank, who submitted Rafael Domingos at the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 7 this past May.

Check the current line-up below.

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Rematch?
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