Former UFC champion Henry Cejudo believes that the UFC needs to book a fight between Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett.
The future of Ilia Topuria in the Ultimate Fighting Championship is unclear. While he will almost certainly fight again for the promotion, and may even do so before the end of the year, there are a few different opponents he could face – most notably Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett.
RELATED: Ilia Topuria should face Paddy Pimblett next, says former UFC champion
Ilia Topuria has obviously already lost to Gaethje back at UFC Freedom 250, whereas Pimblett is someone that he has been feuding with away from the cage for literal years now.
In a recent interview, Henry Cejudo gave his thoughts on Ilia Topuria’s next fight.
Cejudo wants Ilia Topuria vs Paddy Pimblett
“Justin Gaethje ain’t giving that opportunity,” Cejudo told MMA Junkie. “Remember: Fighters have leverage. Justin Gaethje has one year to say ‘yes, I want to fight’ or ‘no, I do not want to fight.’ The UFC don’t want to do that, especially after the no mas thing. That ain’t it. But also because of entertainment, I could see it happening. But also competitively and knowing Justin Gaethje, he ain’t going to give him that opportunity.”
“It’s not just losing,” Cejudo said. “It’s getting your ass kicked and getting beat up. Getting beat up, it takes a minute for your brain to come back and your spirit to come back and be like, ‘I think I want to do this again.’ Ilia needs to fight ‘Paddy the Baddy.’ Put the sanitizer sh*t to bed. It’s the perfect storyline. I think ‘Paddy the Baddy’ would be the perfect match for him to come back to. He has to. If he claims everything he is then he needs to get back in there and beat Paddy, and the winner fights Justin Gaethje.”
Quotes via MMA Junkie
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