Paul Hughes fired back at Khabib Nurmagomedov after the former UFC champ took a jab at Ireland’s MMA scene. Khabib had claimed Ireland hasn’t produced any elite fighters and that Dagestan was leagues ahead in churning out top-tier talent.
It didn’t take long for Hughes to fire back. The back-and-forth has added even more fuel to the fire leading up to the fight, making this showdown feel really personal.
“Just wait and see”
Just wait and see https://t.co/LfkPtNtfls
— Paul Hughes MMA (@paulhughesmma) January 2, 2025
With Nurmagomedov‘s cousin, Usman set to defend his lightweight title against Hughes at Bellator Champions Series: Road to Dubai on Jan. 25, Khabib made it clear – he doesn’t think much of Ireland’s overall talent pool.
“Ireland doesn’t have fighters, brother. How many fighters are there? Paul Hughes and Conor. Who else?”
While some might argue that UFC welterweight Ian Garry deserves a mention, Khabib insists the talent gap between Ireland and Dagestan is so wide that organizations hesitate to sign fighters from his country because “everyone can become champion”.
While this does seem uncharacteristically boastful, Khabib has good reasons to believe his own hype.
Since retiring in 2020, he has trained stars like Islam Makhachev and his cousins Usman and Umar. Islam is en route to become the most decorated UFC lightweight champion, Usman is literally running out of competition as the Bellator lightweight champion and Umar is on his way to fight Merab Dvalishvili for the UFC bantamweight title.
Hughes, on the other hand, had planned on having former UFC double champ Conor McGregor in his corner for the fight but that situation seems to have changed.
Hughes’s McGregor situation
Hughes has officially moved on from the idea of having McGregor in his corner for his next fight. After his big win over AJ McKee at PFL’s Battle of the Giants, Hughes casually floated the idea of McGregor cornering him for his upcoming title shot. He had wanted to recreate the environment of the UFC 229 fight between Khabib and Conor with both fighters at their respective countrymen’s corners.
But things have changed since then. With McGregor recently facing backlash following a civil assault case, Hughes is keeping his distance.
In an interview, Hughes downplayed the whole thing. “That was just something I said after the fight – it blew up on social media, but I haven’t really thought about it since,” Hughes explained.
“With everything going on now, it’s not something I’m looking to pursue.”
Hughes has bigger things to focus on. Facing an undefeated champ like Usman will be the toughest challenge of Hughes’ career, and he could do without the McGrgegor distraction.
