Paddy Pimblett expects he could be promoted to undisputed champion with a win at UFC 324.
With UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) taking time off due to legal issues with his ex-wife, Pimblett (23-3 MMA, 7-0 UFC) will battle Justin Gaethje (26-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) for the interim title on Jan. 24 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+).
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Tom Aspinall, who was promoted to UFC heavyweight champion after Jon Jones retired, told Pimblett that the interim belt is legit.
“Interim is a genuine title. It’s a genuine world title,” Aspinall said on his YouTube channel. “The people who say it’s not a genuine title have never won a title in their life. They’re the ones who say it’s not.”
With Topuria’s personal issues still ongoing, Pimblett sees a scenario where he could end up like Aspinall.
“People keep saying you’re probably going to end up like Tom when you win – it’ll get upgraded – because people are saying Ilia’s not going to be back for at least a year,” Pimblett said. “People are saying it could get messy and it could end up being like two years if it gets dragged out and that.
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“If he’s going to sit out for that long, I would rather him just vacate and stop holding the division up. But I do want to fight him, so it’s a catch-22. I want to beat Ilia up and show everyone that I can beat him, but at the same time, if he’s going to have me waiting like Tom was waiting for Jon, then no. Just vacate, lad, and let the division crack on.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Paddy Pimblett would rather Ilia Topuria vacated UFC title
