Written by Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
If the UFC offered Ilia Topuria a fight with Conor McGregor in his first fight since vacating the featherweight title, Topuria would take it for sure.
“I think he’s going to come back,” Topuria said on the Joe Rogan Experience. “If they give the opportunity to guys at, what, 40 years old like [Andrei] Arlovski, you can have so many names who fight at 40 years old. Why not Conor? …
“Actually, we had the talks [about a fight],” Topuria continued. “I don’t know. I do this one, then I’m going to get some calls. You know how the UFC is: They are very specific, ‘Don’t say anything to no one.’
“But if they offer me a fight against Conor right now, I’ll say why not? Why not? I wouldn’t say no. … That would be a great one. …
“[If he had a full fight camp], it would depend on who he would face [in return fight], because if you put him against me, he needs to die and be born again.”
Of course, Topuria would love to get an immediate shot at Islam Makhachev and the UFC lightweight title, which is a fight many fans are interested in. But there are so many unknowns with the state of lightweight, the talent at the top, and whether or not Makhachev will remain in the division.
So if it’s not a title fight, and it’s not Makhachev, Topuria would love to face his old rival Paddy Pimblett after Pimblett destroyed Michael Chandler in the co-main event of UFC 314.
“What excites me more is the fight with Paddy.” Topuria explained. “That fight excites me even more [than a fight with Conor], and if they can put that fight in Spain, at the Bernabéu Stadium [it would be huge].
“I know that Dana doesn’t like to put the events in a stadium, but that’s the only stadium in the world that they can close the roof. [They can fit] 80,000 [people]… and a lot of people can travel from England to Spain, and that happens very often. …
“That will be a massive one, in Spain, against that pimple?”