Ilia Topuria doesn’t have his next title defense locked up just yet, though the logical step would be to give Arman Tsarukyan the chance to fight for the title since he is, after all, the No. 1 ranked fighter in the Lightweight division and on a four-fight win streak.
Another name tossed around is Justin Gaethje, the hard-hitting 155-pound slugger who is ranked No. 5 in the division, 3-1 in his last four and coming off a win over Rafal Fiziev. But according to former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight champion, Dominick Cruz, there is a bigger fight — money-wise — that “El Matador” should be targeting in the form of Paddy Pimblett.
“This thing’s about paychecks at a time. We’re prize fighters,” Cruz said on the “Anik & Florian Podcast.“ (via MMA Junkie). “We’re not anything else. We want to say we’re all these other things. We are prize fighters. You put a prize out there, we take the prize, you win it, or you lose it. Who’s the biggest prize? We all know the answer to this between those three,” said Cruz, who makes the case for “The Baddy” for the simple fact that he knows how to seel a fight compared to the other two options.
“So, if you’re smart, you take that fight like that guy’s the bag. Now, not to say the other guys aren’t good, but the problem is Paddy, it’s just that he promotes, he talks, he’s got a very big package. It just makes sense to make the most money with that fight. But now with this new deal coming forward, too, does that change the layout of if you care who you fight. Now are you just looking for the better, easier matchup?”
“The Baddy” has really found his groove inside the Octagon, winning all seven of his fights for the promotion which includes his most recent technical knockout (TKO) win over Michael Chandler at UFC 314 (see it again here).
