LOS ANGELES — With the UFC’s $6.7 billion deal with Paramount beginning January 2026, reports have begun speculating that the world’s biggest Mixed Martial Arts promotion will be hosting its inaugural event in Los Angeles. After announcing their partnership in August, fans and reporters have started asking the questions on where and when the first big event of the Paramount era will be.
Despite a venue and date still unannounced, Dana White has confirmed himself that the UFC has already begun working on potential matchups for the event and its location. Perhaps the most speculation to be going around is the headliner, which is rumored to take place between Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett.
Topuria is coming off a first round knockout against Charles Oliveira at UFC 317, with the UFC’s #1 pound-for-pound fighter beginning a second title reign in a new weight class. Meanwhile, Pimblett is riding the momentum of a seven fight winning-streak after a third-round TKO against Michael Chandler in April. While this offers a new and exciting matchup for the lightweight division, the rivalry between these two goes back years ago.
The feud between the two lightweights began in 2021 following a derogatory comment made by Pimblett on Twitter (X) regarding Topuria’s home country, Georgia.
This rivalry escalated in 2022 when Topuria and Pimblett were scheduled to fight at UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall in their own respective matchups. During an altercation at a hotel UFC fighters were staying in, Pimblett and Topuria got into an altercation in the lobby in which Pimblett appeared to throw a bottle of sanitizer at Topuria’s head. Following Paddy Pimblett’s victory in London, the Birmingham native called out Topuria in his post-fight interview, giving him the nickname “Sanitizer Boy”
At UFC 317, the feud reached its boiling point after Topuria and Pimblett faced off in the Octagon following the Spaniard’s victory, leading to another physical altercation between the two.
While this matchup seems unfavorable to many fans, recent decisions regarding the UFC’s ranking system seems to suggest the bout will happen sooner rather than later as Pimblett was moved up one spot from #7 to #6 in the lightweight rankings.
With Dana White looking to start the new deal off in a big way, having one of the UFC’s biggest rivalries with two of the most popular fighters in the promotion headline the first card on Paramount Plus seems to be the direction that is being taken.
