“Irish only 6 million Russian 150 million. I wanna fight with your chicken because this is number one easy fight in the Lightweight division,” said Khabib Nurmagomedov as he was preparing to face Conor McGregor at UFC 229. The inaugural Ireland vs. Dagestan debate began between two MMA legends, who became the face of the sport back in 2016. Their clash settled the debate about who was the better fighter. Years have passed since that incident, but ‘The Eagle’ still holds onto it. His recent comments about Ireland have drawn the ire of Irish fighters, who have responded by calling out Dagestan over PED accusations.

While having a candid conversation with the ‘PFL MMA’, Khabib Nurmagomedov rather made a very controversial statement about Irish fighters. The former lightweight champion confessed that Ireland backs better fighters and they pose no threat to the Dagestan dominance, “Brother, Ireland don’t have fighters, brother. Let’s be honest,” said Nurmagomedov. He further added, “Let’s be honest. How many fighters do you know from Ireland? Paul Hughes and Conor [McGregor], and who else? There is no fighter, brother. You come to Dagestan, you can understand… Let’s be honest, Dagestan level of MMA here [high hand gesture], but Ireland level? Not even half of Dagestan level.”

Nurmagomedov’s comments on the Dagestani dominance got a stern reply from Paul Hughes, who is preparing to clash against Usman Nurmagomedov for the Bellator lightweight title, Hughes wrote, “Just wait to I get my hands on yo boy.” The Irish-origin fighter didn’t stop there as took to his X handle to call out the Dagestani camp multiple times, “Dagestan number 1 at juicing bratha, Conor Made you famous” wrote ‘Big News’.

That’s not all as the Bellator lightweight title contender took to his Instagram handle to share Khabib Nurmagomedov’s quote on his story and captioned it with a sarcastic message that read, “The always humble and respectful Khabib.” Although years have passed since Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor faced off in the inaugural Ireland vs. Dagestan clash, the lingering animosity remains strong even today.

Several fighters have called out Team Khabib for ‘The Eagle’s comments on Irish fighters, but does the former lightweight champion have any remorse for his statement? Well, certainly not as he has doubled down on it!

Khabib Nurmagomedov doubled down on his Irish fighter debate

Apart from Conor McGregor, Paul Hughes, and Ian Garry, every other Irish-origin fighter falls short of expectations, according to Khabib Nurmagomedov. Nurmagomedov believes that Dagestan keeps on producing champions and contenders in all of the promotions while on the other hand, Ireland’s contribution to the MMA scene is minimal. After serious backlash from the MMA community, Khabib Nurmagomedov took to his X handle to double down on his statements.

“You can say whatever you want, but if we’re talking about facts, you can’t compare Irish fighters with fighters from Dagestan. We dominate amateur MMA, and it’s not even close—not just compared to Irish fighters but the whole world. I’m absolutely confident that if we were to organize a team vs. team matchup, Dagestan would defeat a world team in amateur MMA,” said Khabib Nurmagomedov.

He further added, “And when it comes to professional MMA, we have champions, contenders, and ranked fighters in every major league. Show me Irish fighters who are currently title contenders in the top 3 MMA promotions. At best, you might be able to name 1 or 2 fighters.”

As of today, Team Khabib has their champions in every major MMA promotion while Ireland is struggling to even keep up with the pace, Nurmagomedov’s words might have some depth to it but can it change in the future? State your thoughts in the comments below.