Dana White: Ilia Topuria, Paddy Pimblett Faceoff Should Have Never Happened

Dana White: Ilia Topuria, Paddy Pimblett Faceoff Should Have Never Happened

The UFC 317 main event had an encore as newly crowned champion Ilia Topuria had a scuffle with rising contender Paddy Pimblett. UFC CEO Dana White was not a fan of the post-fight altercation, however.

White gave his opinion on the faceoff in his UFC 317 post-fight press conference.

“Well, I don’t know who the hell let him in there,” White said. “That should have never happened. Let’s start there. I was already back in my room, or that would have never happened.

White was not committed to the idea of giving Pimblett the next title fight. As standard, he was not interested in crowning the next title contender immediately after a fight.

“I don’t know. Yeah I don’t know. I don’t really think about that stuff tonight- other than, obviously, the Van fight- we’ll see. We’ll see how this plays out.”

White doubled down on his displeasure with allowing Pimblett in the octagon. That included briefly shutting down the idea of giving Pimblett the next title fight.

“My thing with Ilia Topuria is, his wife and kid are in the octagon,” White said. “That’s not the fight- Yeah. It should not have happened. That’s not really what we do. I don’t give a shit if it was fun to watch or not. That should not have happened. Plus, he wins a second title in a higher division. It was a bad call by whoever the hell let him in there.”

How Long Will Ilia Topuria Rule The Lightweight Division?

The UFC 317 squabble between Topuria and Pimblett provided optimism that the Scouser may get the title fight; however, White’s comments make it seem like that is not the fight the UFC is interested in.

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