Paddy Pimblett believes coaching against Ilia Topuria on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) would set the perfect foundation for their mega-fight.Pimblett is awaiting fight news from the UFC after a statement 52-second submission over Benoit Saint Denis in July cemented his status as a title contender, and a fight against Topuria has never made more sense.Pimblett is arguably just one fight away from getting another shot at UFC gold, having lost an interim title bout against Gaethje in JanuaryGetty‘The Baddy’ has long been tipped to face bitter rival Topuria, who dropped the UFC lightweight title to Justin Gaethje last time out in the main event of the promotion’s White House show.Topuria returned to training in September, having fully recovered from the nasty facial injuries he sustained in his defeat to Gaethje.He wants another go at Gaethje, insinuating the American cheated during their historic main event.But with Gaethje unwilling to offer ‘El Matador’ an immediate rematch, the MMA world is now expecting Pimblett vs Topuria to decide who will move towards a title shot next.And Pimblett believes it has the magnitude to feature on a TUF season.Pimblett threatens Topuria with beating“I have no fight booked at the minute, but I’d love to fight Ilia Topuria,” Pimblett told Kolos MMA.“I’ll beat him that badly, I’ll send him back down to featherweight.“I think me and Ilia would be a brilliant season of The Ultimate Fighter because I’d get under his skin so much that when we came into the fight I’d beat him just as fast as [Conor] McGregor beat [Jose] Aldo.“It would be a brilliant press conference and a very interesting six weeks to say the least if it was me and him on The Ultimate Fighter.”Pimblett added that if he could fight anyone next, it would be Gaethje simply because the American is undisputed champion.View Tweet: https://t.co/xVMtEBpAW0Topuria, who said he was fully blinded in both eyes during his defeat to Gaethje, will be hungry to right the wrongs of his last fightGettyHowever, he has never strayed from his desire to ‘beat up’ Topuria, ever since the pair’s initial altercation at a London hotel in 2022.Pimblett also mentioned No. 2-ranked lightweight Arman Tsarukyan as someone he would like to fight next, as he has no respect for the Armenian star he calls ‘rich kid’ due to his wealthy family.Tsarukyan knocked out fellow 155lbs contender Mauricio Ruffy last month at UFC 331 and had said he was told a victory would put him in a championship fight next.So if Tsarukyan is the man to face Gaethje next, it makes a Pimblett vs Topuria fight almost impossible to book.But fans wanting the fight soon may hope it doesn’t happen through TUF, as Pimblett suggests, because the show takes months to be filmed and is later released on a weekly basis.What is The Ultimate Fighter?TUF is a reality series that offers up-and-coming MMA prospects the chance to fight their way through a tournament bracket to a UFC contract while being coached by the sport’s biggest stars.Tina Black knocked out Melissa Amaya to win The Ultimate Fighter at UFC Vegas 121 late last monthGettyMcGregor has coached twice on two different seasons of TUFGettyThis year’s season concluded this past weekend at UFC Vegas 121, with Ilimbek Akylbek being crowned The Ultimate Fighter at men’s bantamweight and Tina Black winning the women’s strawweight tournament.The first season’s finale is largely credited with saving the UFC from near-bankruptcy, with Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar fighting out a Las Vegas barnburner on Spike TV that caught the world’s attention.Former two-division champion McGregor has appeared twice on TUF, coaching against Urijah Faber in 2015 and later Michael Chandler for season 31.Pimblett and Topuria serving as TUF coaches would no doubt prove to be one of the most iconic seasons.After all, online discourse suggests the series is nowhere near as popular as it used to be, although UFC CEO Dana White hit back at critics in August to insist it still performs well. talkSPORT's UFC pound-for-pound rankingstalkSPORT.com has collectively voted on the best fighters to form a regularly updated UFC pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings system for the rest of 2026 and beyond.Our P4P list will be updated regularly based on performances in the Octagon — with wins, records, title wins and defences, calibre of opponents, methods of victory and much more all determining who makes it.UFC champions Islam Makhachev, Joshua Van and Sean Strickland feature – but big stars such as Alex Pereira and Tom Aspinall miss out.