Khabib Nurmagomedov has risked the wrath of Conor McGregor with his brutal assessment of Irish MMA.
The legendary UFC duo shared arguably the most bitter rival in company history before they fought for the lightweight title at UFC 229 in October 2018.
Khabib Nurmagomedov won by submission before starting a wild post-fight brawl that saw both men receive hefty fines, and fight bans for their involvement.
A rematch never came off as ‘The Eagle’ retired in 2020, but he and Conor McGregor still sporadically trade insults through interviews and on social media all these years later.
A rivalry reignited
Khabib Nurmagomedov has transitioned to coaching in retirement and it’s going well as he is currently working with world champions in the UFC, Bellator, and PFL.
On January 25, his cousin, Usman Nurmagomedov, will put his lightweight title and perfect 18-0 record on the line against Northern Ireland’s Paul Hughes at Bellator Champions Series: Road to Dubai.
The bout has been touted as a rematch between the two regions, but the 29-0 UFC legend insists that there is no rivalry between the countries as he believes Russia is far superior when it comes to MMA.
“Brother, Ireland don’t have fighters, brother,” Nurmagomedov said in an interview with PFL.
“Let’s be honest. How many fighters do you know from Ireland? Paul Hughes and Conor [McGregor]. And who else? There is no fighters, brother.
“You come Dagestan, you can understand. You know, so many organizations, they don’t even sign Dagestan fighters because they worry about like, everybody can become champion.”
“Let’s be honest: Dagestan level of MMA here (raises arm high). But Ireland level, like not even half of Dagestan level.”
Hughes remained calm as he replied to Nurmagomedov’s ruthless review of Irish MMA, he tweeted: “Just wait and see.”
McGregor almost certainly won’t do the same. ‘Notorious’ hasn’t responded yet, but it seems to be just a matter of time before he launches a Twitter tirade at his nemesis.
Darren Till disagrees with Khabib Nurmagomedov
Former UFC contender Darren Till didn’t like Nurmagomedov’s assessment of Irish MMA.
The Liverpudlian, who will box Anthony Taylor on January 18, argued that Russia’s dominance is due to its size. In contrast, Ireland has become an MMA powerhouse despite being exponentially smaller and having a population in the single-digit millions.
“I’ve always respected Khabib and his team a lot they are fantastic fighters,” Till tweeted.
“But for him to sit there and say fighters from Ireland are low level in comparison of sizes of countries and production Ireland is actually way ahead Ireland is so f***ing small and Russia is so fucking big Ireland has produced amazing fighters over the years.
“I would say just over size and production of the country Ireland wins every time and this is not me being biased because I am neither friends with Khabibs side or Ireland’s side I’m just stating my opinion.”