There is no stopping the ongoing war of words between Irish and Dagestani fighters ever since Khabib Nurmagomedov dropped his brutal verdict on the quality of MMA fighters from Ireland. There has been an uproar of sorts with many calling out ‘The Eagle’ for his remarks. While the Russian fighter did attempt to retract his statements by writing on X, “You can’t compare Irish fighters with fighters from Dagestan,” Usman Nurmagomedov, the cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov, too had to step forward and give more clarity.
Speaking to MMA Junkie, Usman Nurmagomedov stated that ‘The Eagle’ had no intention of targeting an entire nation. According to the lightweight challenger, Khabib Nurmagomedov was comparing the standard of the sport in Conor McGregor’s home country rather than Ireland as a whole. He claims that there are certain boundaries that they would not cross, and disrespecting a country is one of them.
He said, “Some people don’t understand. When you say, like, level different, they start talking s***, you know? This is not good. We’re not talking about a nation or something—we’re just talking about MMA levels, you know? And that’s it, nothing else, nothing more.” Nurmagomedov further added, “And we stay within this border now. We don’t go outside the border and talk s*** about people, no. We’re just talking about levels in MMA—fighters from Iran and Russia—and that’s it.”
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For the ones who are unaware of how it all began, the PFL is geared up to see the clash between Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes at the Bellator Champions Series. So, it was while talking about this fight that Khabib Nurmagomedov questioned the quality of fighters coming out of Ireland. He then drew comparisons between his home country and Ireland, drawing the ire of many, such as Conor McGregor and Paul Hughes.
Paul Hughes levels major allegation at camp Khabib Nurmagomedov
ESPN MMA recently shared a picture captioned, “When you have Khabib as your coach!” The picture is of the Dagestanit camp with coach Khabib Nurmagomedov and his team after a training session. The fighter-turned-coach stands in the middle, surrounded by exhausted fighters lying on the floor after a brutal training session. But while the training would’ve been brutal, what was even worse was the major allegation that soon made its way to the comment section of the post.
Paul Hughes let the hate inside him be known by the Dagestani camp as he commented, “You forgot the part where they take steroids together.” This was a direct reference to Usman Nurmagomedov’s PED suspension after the California State Athletic Commission found him guilty of having banned substances in his body back in 2023. While his manager did claim that it was prescribed medicine, Nurmagomedov’s win against Brent Primus was still overturned to a no-contest by the commission. This was an incident that the Dagestani camp would’ve liked to forget; however, Hughes let them know that Khabib Nurmagomedov’s words about Ireland have not been forgotten or forgiven.
As for Conor McGregor, he tweeted about the Dagestani fighters lacking creativity in the Octagon, “Pea brains in a cage. Panache = zero. Creativity = poop. Wherewithal = fart. Embarrassing to me.” Well, it seems like Nurmagomedov has opened Pandora’s box with his brutal verdict. But what do you think? Did ‘The Eagle’ actually mean to disrespect the nation? Or is Usman Nurmagomedov right about them strictly comparing MMA levels? Let us know in the comments.
The post Cousin Usman Forced to Clear Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Ireland Disrespect appeared first on EssentiallySports.
