After seeing Paddy Pimblett face off with Ilia Topuria, Demetrious Johnson questions the meritocracy system in the UFC.
Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) knocked out Charles Oliveira to claim the vacant lightweight title in Saturday’s UFC 317 headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Pimblett (23-3 MMA, 7-0 UFC) immediately entered the octagon to face off with Topuria, who admitted “The Baddy” is who he’s eyeing next.
With Arman Tsarukyan (22-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) also in attendance, Johnson thinks he should be next for Topuria. Tsarukyan was scheduled to face Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title at UFC 311 in January but withdrew just a day before due to a back injury.
“Don’t give it to Justin Gaethje, give it to Arman Tsarukyan,” Johnson said on his YouTube channel. “It needs to be him. I feel like Ilia is going to fight three or four more times then retire. This is what I’m talking about when I say it’s a reality TV show. Obviously Arman Tsarukyan is the No. 1 contender, but they’re forcing this fight with Paddy Pimblett vs. Ilia Topuria just because it’s probably going to sell more. But I think the rightful person who should be getting the next title shot at lightweight is Arman Tsarukyan.”
Pimblett is currently the No. 8 UFC lightweight after finishing Michael Chandler at UFC 314, whereas Tsarukyan sits in the No. 1 spot after defeating Oliveira at UFC 300.
“I bet you they’re probably going to go Paddy Pimblett vs. Ilia Topuria, which I’m not mad about that, but I just want people to start earning their truthful spot,” Johnson said. “What’s the point of having rankings if they’re not going to abide by their No. 1 contender? Let’s just get rid of all the rankings, and let’s just do a poll of what the fans want to see, and let’s just run the event like that.”
