UFC rising star Paddy Pimblett is roasting Ilia Topuria -- AKA "Mr. Hand Sanitizer" -- after the rival fighters came to blows in a hotel ... after engaging in a social media tiff a few months back.
TMZ Sports talked to 27-year-old Paddy "The Baddy" one day after he got into it with 25-year-old Topuria ... and it's safe to say the scuffle didn't do anything to squash the beef.
Pimblett -- 17-3 as a pro -- says he was just minding his own business, "warming me eggs up" in the hotel kitchen when Ilia -- "that little bitch ass" as Paddy refers to him -- approached him in an aggressive manner.
Paddy says Topuria made the first move, "So, I bounced hand sanitizer off his head so from now he'll forever be known as Mr. Hand Sanitizer."
"He tried to throw a right hook at me which is about four years away from me because he's like 5'7". It's hard to make it look good on his part when he looks like an absolute idiot. I can't believe he posted that video. He's made himself look so stupid saying 'I warned you.'"
"Well you're the one with hand sanitizer bounced off your head lad. Nothing happened to me. You didn't land a single punch. There was six of you and ya done nothing," Paddy said.
The drama started last April when Paddy Tweeted ... "Lad how stupid are these Georgians man ... no wonder the Russians terrorize their lives." Pimblett erased the message and apologized, but it's clear Ilia didn't forget.
The guys clearly still have issues ... so we asked Paddy if he was interested in fighting Topuria in the future.
"He's beneath me. As I say it, I don't even know his name, lad. He's Mr. Sanitizer to me. That's all he is. I don't know his name, lad. He's gonna get knocked out Saturday by my man Jai [Herbert], and then he'll crawl back to the featherweight division."
FYI, both men are fighting this weekend at UFC Fight Night ... but they're not fighting each other. Pimblett's taking on Rodrigo Vargas (we also talked to PP about his fight).
Many people have compared the up-and-comer from Liverpool with Conor McGregor. We also talked to Paddy about many fans anointing him the next Notorious.