Conor McGregor has a habit of lashing out at the ones who displease him. He was always one to talk trash about his rivals and opponents, and that’s one of the traits that he carried on even after being out of action for more than 3 years. But it’s mostly the Dagestani fighters who receive that highest magnitude of heat from McGregor. Of course, that’s because of his ugly rivalry with Khabib Nurmagomedov. Nevertheless, the storm of fury has also turned its tide towards Islam Makhachev and Dagestan as a whole. Even his own countryman, Paul Hughes wasn’t safe. Given the kind of heat that exists between McGregor and Team Khabib, one would certainly expect Makhachev to try and take McGregor on for a bout. But nope! Makhachev wasn’t letting his emotions get the best of him. Let’s see what he thought of McGregor’s diss.
During his recent appearance on Match TV, Makhachev declared that he wasn’t interested in fighting ‘The Notorious’ at all. And that was when the interviewer reflected on the incident where he spat on a fan’s face for yelling “Let’s go Khabib” in public. Of course, the Irishman had faced some backlash from the fighting community for this action. But what does Makhachev think of that? The lightweight champion said, “Well, that’s the most he can do: hit an old man in a bar, get into an argument with women somewhere and spit on someone. That’s the most he’s capable of at the moment.”
The UFC lightweight champion continued, “And it’s been fading away for a long time. He’s just trying to be in the news with these outbursts.” In those outbursts, ‘The Notorious’ often trashes his targets’ homeland. But what does Makhachev think of that? Does it bother him when McGregor talks badly about Dagestan? Of course, it upsets him. But does it affect him as much as McGregor’s
Islam Makhachev said, “Of course it does. But he was asked about it once, and it changed his life forever. He will never be the same as before the fight with Khabib. And now everything that’s happening to him, I think, is that he has problems with his head. And he can’t forget what happened in the cage then.”
Not too long ago, Conor McGregor challenged Paul Hughes’ love for Ireland after the PFL star returned Khabib Nurmagomedov’s praise in kind. The only mistake that ‘Big News’ made was to say that he wasn’t like “the other guy” after ‘The Eagle’ invited him to Dagestan. This infuriated ‘Mystic Mac’ and in a series of tweets, dissed Hughes and even asked him to take the Irish flag off his shoulders. But what was Hughes’ take on that? Let’s find out!
Paul Hughes takes Conor McGregor’s antics of doubting his Irish roots with a “pinch of salt”
On 13 February 2025, MMA Junkie had a conversation with Hughes, where he talked about McGregor’s bashful words for him. Well, there was a time when ‘The Notorious’ stood up for ‘Big News’ and even called it a robbery when the judges declared Usman Nurmagomedov the winner of their bout at PFL: Road to Dubai. Hughes weighed in on the disrespect and said, “Yeah, well it was obviously a very extreme kind of viewpoint that he was taking. Obviously, unbelievably disrespectful one. It’s probably the most disrespectful thing you could say to a fellow Irishman is that he is not Irish just because from the north of the country.”
However, ‘Big News’ didn’t pay much heed to McGregor’s words personally. And it was all because ‘The Notorious’ was now a changed man. He continued, “It’s not the Conor that I once knew. So, it’s not… and people were saying, ‘Isn’t it hard to heal up from someone you looked up to?’ I kinda take it with a pinch of salt because of that reason, you know. So, it is what it is. I didn’t take it… I wasn’t distraught about what he said. Anything like that.”
The interviewer agreed with Hughes’ point of view. Nevertheless, he wished for the best for ‘The Notorious’ as the interview raged on. What are your thoughts on McGregor’s disrespectful words towards his targets’ homeland? Do you think he does it just to stay relevant? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
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