Paddy Pimblett reveals injury delay when prioritizing Justin Gaethje rematch over Ilia Topuria feud

Paddy Pimblett can’t fully train because he is taking time to attend to injuries.

Earlier this month, Pimblett said he’ll likely return in 2027 and will look to begin a training camp after getting to enjoy the Christmas period.

‘The Baddy’ is sure to have a huge matchup on the horizon, but any early preparations for it have been somewhat disrupted by him needing to attend to his left hand.

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The rivalry between Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria would make for one of the biggest fights that the promotion has put together for some time.

During an appearance on the ‘How U Livin J Piven’ podcast, ‘The Baddy’ said that he ‘hopes’ to face the former lightweight champion in his next outing.

That being said, he still would rather face current titleholder Justin Gaethje for a second time, saying, “I’d rather beat Ilia than beat Justin but Justin’s got the belt and that’s what we do it for.”

The lightweight star went on to add when asked what the plans are for him that things are uncertain at the moment due to him recovering from an injury that has prevented some aspects of his training.

Pimblett revealed that he has recently had stem cell injections in his left hand, meaning that he’s had to adapt his training in order to work around this.

“At the minute, I don’t know,” he said when asked what’s next. “I got some stem cells in my hand the other day so I can’t really do nothing with that hand. I’ve still been training with my coach, still been striking. But, I’ve just been [doing] kicks, elbows, right hand.

“I haven’t been putting nothing on this hand, I’ve just been going southpaw, going orthodox, switching it up. I’m just working on other stuff. Working on my stance and things like that.”

Fans were on board with Pimblett suggesting that he should coach ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ alongside Topuria to create even more excitement for a matchup between them.

This would also give the Brit the necessary time that he needs to return to full fitness.

However, he said during the podcast that he doubts this will happen because of Topuria not wanting to be around his rival in order to shoot the series.