Khabib Nurmagomedov’s claim about Irish MMA not even being comparable to its Dagestani counterpart seems to have touched one too many nerves and rightfully so. After Paul Hughes and Conor McGregor, Irish PFL fighter Nathan Kelly has now jumped in to criticize Khabib. According to Kelly, it is nothing more than arrogant promotional talk.
He feels Nurmagomedov’s attitude reflects a bully mentality and suggested that the former UFC champ’s victory over McGregor might have gone to his head. For Kelly, these comments unfairly put all Irish fighters into the same category.
“I do believe that he believes that it is true. I think them lads have a bit of an arrogance about them. They think that they’re the best thing since sliced bread…Ultimately, I think it is a bit ignorant. I think he is going off what he has experienced himself,” Kelly said in conversation with Mike Owens on Inside Fighting.
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Kelly went on to add that he along with the upcoming Irish fighters are a part of a ‘new wave’ of fighters who are more well-rounded and skilled enough to go toe-to-toe with the best of the best.
It should be noted that wrestling and sambo have long been Dagestan’s domain. Wrestling, especially has been their primary sport for decades with many Olympic medalists having come from the mountainous country. UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev has admitted that the country is obsessed with the sport and almost every kid wants to be a wrestler.
“When I was young, we wrestled everywhere, in school, on the streets, and in the village. I am a good wrestler because I am from Dagestan. In some countries, kids play soccer but in our republic, when we are kids, we start wrestling. You need to wrestle all your life… You can ask some driver, you know, Uber driver, everybody was a wrestler before,” Makhachev told ESPN in an interview in January 2024.
Ireland, on the other hand, excels in many other international sports like Rugby, soccer, cricket, and boxing. The country’s love with MMA is only a recent phenomenon. But the Irish do have a structured grassroots programme for the sport which has produced some good fighters in the years after McGregor’s dominance.
So Khabib’s take on the Irish MMA scene could also be stemming from his hatred for McGregor after their intense feud which lasted for many years. And the Ireland vs Dagestan rivalry is set to continue in UFC, which Khabib will watch closely. Many fans would also, after Khabib’s provocative words.
Khabib could be proven wrong
Despite not even being mentioned by Khabib, UFC welterweight Ian Garry is one of the most promising fighters in the world in his category. As a matter of fact, very recently, he fought the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 and almost choked the Kazakh boogeyman to submission.
I spoke to Ian Machado Garry this week about THAT rear naked choke attempt that almost finished Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 pic.twitter.com/VHUmKrxx6v
— Paul Browne (@BJJ_Browner) December 18, 2024
While Garry lost the fight, his stocks only rose after that performance. Garry might not be fighting for the title at the next PPV he fights in but it surely is in his future.
Meanwhile, PFL’s Hughes is preparing to take on Khabib’s cousin Usman for the lightweight title soon. If he wins, Khabib’s remarks might come back to bite him.
