Usman Nurmagomedov’s lightweight title defense against Paul Hughes for PFL is picking up steam for different reasons. For one, the show’s branding plays on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s comments criticizing Irish fighters’ MMA skills. Secondly, Conor McGregor seems to have had an open invitation to the event. However, Khabib’s manager Rizvan Mamgomedov doesn’t believe McGregor is brave enough to show up.
The idea has been to recreate the atmosphere of UFC 229 (without the obvious aftermath) with Khabib and Conor in the same building. But Magomedov is not buying into it.
“No, he does not have the courage to show up here. Even if someone confirms that he will come, I know that he won’t..”
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The feud that has been dubbed ‘Ireland vs Dagestan 2’ had started when Hughes had asked McGregor to show up in his corner for the fight since Khabib would be showing up for Usman. However, at this point, with McGregor’s legal troubles, he has backed away from the conversation.
Paul Hughes doesn’t plan to actually have Conor McGregor in his corner for Usman Nurmagomedov fight
“Obviously with things going down now, it’s not something I’m going to continue to pursue.” pic.twitter.com/dWfp7Def2z
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) December 18, 2024
Hughes’ performance and personality have some people calling him the next McGregor. But for that prediction to come true, he will not just have to win the fight against Usman but also manage to garner an organic meteoric rise that hasn’t been since… well, Mcgregor himself.
Javier Mendez doesn’t think Hughes has ‘It’
To achieve what he did, McGregor went up against some of the toughest fighters in the world. He ended Jose Aldo’s win streak, defeated Chad Mendes, and Nate Diaz, and walked through a legend like Eddie Alvarez. Coach Mendez doesn’t believe Hughes has McGregor-like skills to be able to pursue such greatness.
“I don’t see any McGregor-like tendencies in him other than he’s a good talker. He’s a tough guy, confident, undefeated—but McGregor was special, not just in talking, but in his skill set.”
All that said, Hughes is only 27-year-old and there’s no way he should be listening to the head coach of the opposition camp.
This upcoming fight will be his first shot at a major title. If he beats Usman, this is the first second consecutive week, Nurmagomedov would have bitten the dust. And that is sure to get into a spot on the annals of MMA history.
