Despite the two fighters, Paul Hughes and Conor McGregor, being countrymen, it seems their beef may be irreconcilable.
Their altercation began after Paul Hughes lost to Usman Nurmagomedov and went to congratulate the winner and his coach Khabib Nurmagomedov saying “I’m not like that other guy”– implying to Conor McGregor who has had a long term beef with Khabib Nurmagomedov since their battle six years ago. The former champion heard about this and went on to blast Hughes, insulting him, questioning his heritage and calling him names in tweets that have since been deleted.
Prior to this incident, Hughes and many upcomers from Ireland have looked up to McGregor but “The Notorious” recent display was shocking to him but he didn’t take much offense to these insults but he doubts they will ever see eye too eye.
“It was obviously a very extreme kind of viewpoint that he was taking,” Hughes told MMA Fighting about McGregor’s comments. “Obviously an unbelievably disrespectful one.
“It’s probably the most disrespectful thing you could say to a fellow Irishman is that he’s not Irish just because I come from the north of the country.”
“Look as I’ve talked about a couple of times now, I didn’t take it very personally,” Hughes explained. “Because unfortunately it’s not the Conor that we once knew. So people are saying, ‘Is it hard to hear that from someone you looked up to?’ I kind of take it with a pinch of salt for that reason. It is what it is. I wasn’t distraught about what he said, put it like that.
“Unfortunately it seems that way [he’s just not the same person anymore]. I certainly hope it doesn’t stay that way. I wish all the best.”
Many know the real reason for McGregor’s beef with the Dagestani is due to his epic loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018. Although the two haven’t battled since and Khabib retired shortly after, McGregor never misses an opportunity to attack the Dagestani clan any chance he gets. Hughes is well aware of this beef but he doesn’t believe it is applicable to him as he is not a friend or teammate of McGregor and doesn’t plan on inheriting enemies from him.
“It doesn’t,” Hughes responded when asked if McGregor’s problems with the Nurmagomedov family suddenly became his problem. “You seen then after the fight the mutual respect that we had. Everybody kind of left going that was good. “We had a five-rounder, we sold the place out, we fought really hard and we have mutual respect for each other after as martial arts should be.
“I understand things how the narrative was trying to be pushed and I understand that. I get it from a marketing perspective and at the end of the day, I was the one that first came up with Ireland vs. Dagestan 2. I created that narrative, and it was good marketing I believe. It doesn’t mean that there has to be extreme personal hatred. To me it’s competition and that’s always what it was for me.”
Hughes says he is ready for a rematch with Usman Nurmagomedov. His loss to Usman was considered a close decision loss by many as the Irishman put on a good fight but he plans on putting in more effort at their next bout. He has mutual respect for Usman and plans to remain cordial with him and keep things professional.
“Look of course, there’s mutual respect there,” Hughes said. “I respect anybody on the planet that gets in that cage gets my respect, regardless of what level it’s at. Now of course, if you’re a successful athlete where I’m at, I know what it takes to get there and I know the sacrifices that you must [go through] to get here. I have respect for all these guys.”
Conor McGregor on the other hand is currently in deep waters as he faces one sexual assault charge after another. After suffering an injury, the fighter has been out of the octagon since 2021. He was set to make a comeback in 2024 to face Michael Chandler, but he had to withdraw due to a leg injury.
