Rising MMA star Paul Hughes appears to want to make Khabib Nurmagomedov eat his words because of what the UFC legend said about the quality of the sport in his region, Dagestan, and how superior it is there to what Irish MMA can offer.

Khabib claimed that Ireland’s MMA exports aside from Hughes and McGregor were limited, while noting that Dagestan has the superior crop of fighters. This has irked the Irish MMA community, but now the former two-weight world champion seems to be finding the humor in it all.

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s recent comments about Irish MMA unsurprisingly drew the attention of Paul Hughes. A former UFC lightweight champion, Nurmagomedov extended his professional record to 29-0 when he defended his belt against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in 2020 before announcing that he’d be retiring from fighting altogether.

Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn't think very highly of the overall quality of Irish fighters in MMA. Ahead of his cousin Usman Nurmagomedov's (18-0) lightweight title defense against Paul Hughes (13-1) at Bellator Champions Series: Road to Dubai on Jan.

Nurmagomedov has risked reigniting his feud with Conor McGregor by launching a scathing attack on Irish MMA, claiming the country doesn't produce top-level fighters