Paddy Pimblett was brutally honest about potentially becoming UFC champion.
With lightweight champion Ilia Topuria taking some time off, Pimblett (23-3 MMA, 7-0 UFC) will meet Justin Gaethje (26-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) for the interim belt in the UFC 324 headliner on Jan. 24 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+).
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Pimblett thinks he could end up being promoted to undisputed champion with a win, as the case with Topuria’s legal issues with his ex-wife remain unclear. If he does, Pimblett sees UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski (27-4 MMA, 14-3 UFC) giving lightweight another try.
“I’ve heard people saying that Volk might retire after his fight because it’s in Australia, but you don’t know, do you,” Pimblett told Tom Aspinall in an interview. “People say that all the time and then they fight again. I think if I win and he wins, and I get upgraded to undisputed champ, it wouldn’t surprise me if he thinks that’s the perfect opportunity to win the lightweight belt. I don’t want to fight Volk. I proper like Volk, but he’s probably looking at it and thinking, ‘That’s my best chance to become lightweight champ, beating Paddy.'”
Volkanovski runs things back with Diego Lopes in the UFC 325 main event on Jan. 31 in Sydney. He attempted to chase dual-champ status in his first reign as featherweight champion, but fell short twice against Islam Makhachev.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Paddy Pimblett: Alexander Volkanovski chases 155-pound belt against me
