Paul Hughes has asserted that Conor McGregor is a shadow of his former self.

And it is for this reason that the 27-year-old hasn’t let his former idol’s shocking comments get to him.

Hughes narrowly lost out to Nurmagomedov in his last fightCredit: getty

But the Irishman’s stock rose tenfold following his gritty performanceCredit: getty

‘Big News’ headlined one of the PFL’s biggest events to date in January, as he was narrowly defeated by Usman Nurmagomedov.

Following the fight, McGregor, 36, sparked outrage with an X-rated rant at the Derry MMA star, taking a swipe at Hughes’ Northern Irish nationality.

Hughes sat down with talkSPORT MMA to discuss his Irish counterpart and revealed he wasn’t bothered by McGregor’s derogatory comments as he took them ‘with a pinch of salt’.

The PFL star also detailed the number one objective on his MMA bucket list, which he hopes will take place in 2025.

“I wasn’t disappointed and didn’t take it very personally at all,” Hughes said.

“The Conor that said that is just not the Conor we once knew. So I do take it with a pinch of salt and that’s my honest thoughts on it.”

Huhges’ fight with Nurmagomedov–the cousin of UFC icon Khabib Nurmagomedov–was billed as ‘Dagestan vs Ireland 2’, following Khabib’s iconic 2018 fight with McGregor.

Nurmagomedov was cornered by Khabib for the main event in Dubai and Hughes had previously hinted at McGregor doing the same for him.

However, controversy surrounding the Irishman, which included losing a civil rape case in the buildup to his fight meant Hughes had no other choice but to reject the idea of McGregor being his cornerman.

Then, in a strange turn of events after Hughes had fallen to his narrow majority decision loss, McGregor tore into the PFL star during a distasteful social media tirade.

McGregor told Hughes to take his flag off in a social media attack

Khabib beat McGregor at UFC 229 in one of the biggest fights in combat sports historyCredit: GETTY

“I’m not like this other guy. I’m my own man,” Hughes said in the aftermath of his defeat in Dubai, referring to McGregor.

In response, McGregor took to X to lambast Hughes.

“Too right, you’re not,” McGregor wrote in response to Hughes’ comments.

“Get that flag off you, you little know-what-you-are c*** from up there,” he added.

“Up the real Irish f*** these vermin f****.”

McGregor later deleted his tweets, but not before Hughes delivered a classy response.

McGrgeor has made the headlines for all the wrong reasons recentlyCredit: Getty

He hasn’t been spotted in the octagon since losing to Dustin Poirier in 2021Credit: Getty

“Coming at my Irish identity just shows where your head is at,” he said.

Hughes is from Derry, Northern Ireland, and admitted that his number one goal is to bring one of his fights back home.

“I certainly hope so,” Hughes added when questioned on if we can expect a big show in Belfast this year.

“It’s something that I really want to happen. That’s number one on my bucket list of MMA is to sell out the SSE Arena in Belfast, which holds 9,000 people.”

“That’s number one before anything. That’s before Las Vegas, before Madison Square Garden, that’s before anything.

“That’s what I want to do in my career and there literally could not be a better time to do it than right now. ”

MMA will lose a lot of its best fighters for a brief period due to Ramadan which begins at the end of February.

This means that many of them, including Nurmagomedov, may not be able to endure a proper training camp for a fight in the summer time.

But Hughes isn’t letting this halt his momentum in 2025.

“If Usman doesn’t want a rematch in the summer time, then get me Belfast in the summer time,” he added.

“If PFL had any sense they would do absolutely everything in their power to get that done, because I think it would be huge for the promotion.

“Huge for my career of course. Huge for potential, say we’re doing a US show or Boston. If I get a good Irish show where I get to sell that out, I’ll certainly bring a lot of people to America and I think it would be a good move for all parties.”

Hughes, like McGregor, is a former Cage Warriors featherweight champion.

His defeat to Nurmagomedov was just the second of his career as his professional MMA record now sits at 13-2.

‘Big News’ has said that he wants at least two more fights this year, and with Hughes vs Nurmagomedov 2 being the biggest fight the PFL can currently make for 2025, don’t be surprised if both men collide once again.