Paddy Pimblett slams Ilia Topuria, Terrance McKinney and tells haters ‘if you don’t like me, f*** off’
Festivus is over, but Paddy Pimblett still feels the need to air his grievances.
Following his win over Tony Ferguson at UFC 296, the popular lightweight from England revealed the fighters the dislikes the most, and that list starts with top-ranked featherweight contender Ilia Topuria. Pimblett’s beef with Topuria stems from an altercation that took place ahead of UFC London in March 2022 where the fighters nearly got into a brawl at the host hotel.
The fracas ended with Pimblett launching a bottle of hand sanitizer at Topuria, which he adopted as a nickname for the 27-year-old Georgian fighter.
“Probably hand sanitizer boy,” Pimblett said on the Happy Endings podcast. “He’s a sausage. He tried to throw a slap at me when I was on my own, and he was with about 12 of his mates. He tried to throw a slap at me, so I stepped back and threw a hand sanitizer bottle at his head.
“That’s why I call him hand sanitizer boy. I don’t even know his name. I just know him as hand sanitizer boy.”
Despite the fact that the rivals compete in different weight classes, Topuria has called for a fight against Pimblett several times. The matchup never got made, but months after their near-brawl, Topuria charged at Pimblett during a UFC press conference that forced security to intervene to keep them separated.
Outside of his simmering feud with Topuria, Pimblett also named fellow lightweight Terrance McKinney as another UFC fighter that gets under his skin. Pimblett claims McKinney is obsessed with him, constantly posting on social media and mentioning his name in every interview.
“I’ve had loads of people talking about me,” Pimblett said. “That little mushroom that goes by the dinosaur name. Whatever his name is, that mushroom, he doesn’t stop talking about me. You can type a name in on someone’s [X account], and he’s got about f****** 700 tweets [about me].
“Terrance McKinney, his nickname is ‘T-Wrecks,’ every interview he talks about me. No one knows you, you f****** bum.”
McKinney has definitely called out Pimblett numerous times, but there’s no telling if the UFC would book the fight.
As much as those two fighters annoy Pimblett, he doesn’t seem all that bothered by the insults from Topuria, McKinney, or fans that take shots at him on social media. He had a rather spicy response ready for anybody who takes issue with him.
“Anyone that doesn’t like me can suck my d***,” Pimblett said, throwing up two middle fingers. “If you don’t like me, eat s***, lad. F*** off. If you don’t like me, f*** off, what are you here for?”
Pimblett admitted he does get drawn into responding to some of the online trolls that take aim at him, usually over his weight; many call him “unprofessional” because he packs on pounds when he’s not getting ready to compete.
Over time, Pimblett said his manager and the people closest to him made a valid point that the critics taking shots at him are almost universally trying to get a rise out of him. Firing back on social media only gives them the attention they want.
“Like, what are you even giving them the time of day for?” Pimblett said. “They’re commenting that to you so you comment back. They’re winning by you commenting back, but I’m like, ‘They need to know!’”