Paddy Pimblett believes everyone tuning in to the UFC Freedom 250 main event could be in for a shock.
UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) will unify the title with interim champ Justin Gaethje (27-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) on June 14 at the White House. Gaethje claimed the interim belt by handing Pimblett his first octagon loss at UFC 324, and Pimblett (23-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC) is not counting out “The Highlight.”
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“My two mates in the main event,” Pimblett said on his YouTube channel. “Ilia did say he was going to come back around this time, so June is perfect for him, and obviously Justin Gaethje said when he was fighting me he wants to beat me and then go on to fight on the White House, and he’s done it. So hat’s off to him, he’s done it. That’s a scrap, they’re going to come out and try to take each other’s heads off. Everyone’s already counting Gaethje out, and we’ve already learned that you can’t do that. I’ve got a sneaky suspicion that Gaethje might pull off an upset here and surprise everyone, but as you know, it’s a fist fight.
“It could go either way. Anyone could beat anyone. In the White House, he’s probably going to have a little bit more motivation to go out there and win because it’s in front of his president and his home country. We’ll have to see how that one plays out because obviously it’s big implications for the rest of the division. I’m obviously going to be watching that. I’ll have my eye on that, but I’m going to be focused on whoever I get to fight next. Hopefully I’m going to find out the next few weeks when my next fight will be, and hopefully it’s around that time, around June or July.”
More: Triple Take: Is the UFC Freedom 250 card a complete letdown?
Topuria, who is coming off knockouts of Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira, has opened up as a massive favorite against Gaethje.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Paddy Pimblett reveals ‘sneaky suspicion’ about Topuria vs. Gaethje
