Kamaru Usman: Paddy Pimblett title shot 'spits in the face of the merit' of top contenders
It was Pimblett (22-4 MMA, 7-0 UFC) who got to face off with newly crowned lightweight champion Ilia Topuria in the octagon immediately after the conclusion of the UFC 317 main event – despite top contenders Arman Tsarukyan (23-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) and Justin Gaethje (26-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) also being in attendance.
Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) dismissed Tsarukyan as his next title challenger, going as far as saying he'd vacate his belt before fighting him. "El Matador" zoned in on Pimblett or Gaethje as his first title defense, but Usman says Pimblett shouldn't be in the title conversation just yet.
"It's not Paddy's fault. Paddy has done a great job with the opposition he's been given to even put himself in this conversation," Usman said on his "Pound 4 Pound" podcast with Henry Cejudo. "Paddy's done a phenomenal job. But if we look at the lightweight rankings, you've got Ilia Topuria, and I'm assuming next you've got Arman Tsarukyan.
"It makes sense. If you're not going to do Arman Tsarukyan or you're not going to do Justin Gaethje, you've got Dan Hooker there, Mateusz Gamrot, Beneil Dariush in front of Paddy Pimblett. So to skip all of these guys just to give him a title shot, that kind of spits in the face of the merit of the best fights the next best guy."
Chael Sonnen told MMA Junkie that's he's certain the UFC plans on giving Tsarukyan the shot next, with Tsarukyan hinting that he's onto something.
"If it was Justin Gaethje, you would have made the fight already," Usman said. "But the fact that you haven't made that fight already tells me that you want Justin Gaethje to maybe have another fight. So if that's the case, it's got to be Arman Tsarukyan. Easy as that."
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