The UFC London fight week talk has been mostly focused on a fighter hotel altercation that took place between Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria earlier this week. Topuria confronted Pimblett who he had beef with stemming from comments he made about Russia and Georgia in 2021.
Topuria has been vocal in his dislike of Pimblett and now the English fighter is giving his side of the story.
“As soon as he came out the double doors, he snared me, so I looked at him and said, ‘What?’” Pimblett said during his UFC London media day appearance. (h/t MMA Junkie). “Then he walked towards me. I said, ‘What’s happening, lad?’ And as he got close to me, he swiped a slap at me, and obviously, if you raise your hands at me, I’m going to do something.
“I wasn’t punching him because I’m not breaking my hand and then not be able to fight and not get my money on the weekend. So I stepped back, and I picked the hand sanitizer and bounced it off his head. And then he swung a big one, and I moved out of the way with ease. He’s got a little bit of small man syndrome. He’s only (5-foot-7), so I just tried to leave the little man to it.”
“He wanted to come at me and act all that, and he got put in his place. I stood there on my own and there was about six of them, and he done nothing. If he wanted to do something, he would’ve come around the table and try and have a fight with me, but he didn’t. He stood on the other side of the table because he knows what’s good for him.”
Some question the antics of Topuria, wondering if he’s trying to draw up attention for a fight. And it’s clear he does want to fight Pimblett, but the feeling is not mutual.
“Who even is he? Seriously,” Pimblett said. “Who is Mr. Hand Sanitizer? He’s no one. He used my name for followers and to gain some publicity. He put a video of him and made himself look like a tool.”
Paddy Pimblett gives his side of the story for UFC London altercation with ‘Mr. Hand Sanitizer’ Ilia Topuria