“Poor Hughes Falls In Between” — UFC Legend Clears Up Paul Hughes’ Involvement in Conor McGregor & Khabib Nurmagomedov Rivalry

Conor McGregor picking fights on social media? Old news, isn’t it? The former two-division UFC champ has never been one to hold back, but this time, his latest target isn’t just his greatest rival, it’s his fellow Irishman, Paul Hughes. Yes, the same Hughes who just put on one of the greatest fights in PFL history against Usman Nurmagomedov. So, what did Hughes do to deserve McGregor’s wrath? Did he insult Proper Twelve? Did he claim that Jon Jones or wait, Artem Lobov was the true GOAT? No, even worse, he dared to be nice to Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Chael Sonnen, always one for poetic analysis, put it bluntly, “By the way, the enemy of my enemy is now my friend. So Khabib and Conor are just as distasteful of one another now as they always were. Like that wasn’t a bridge that was mended, and poor Hughes falls in between.” In other words, Hughes unintentionally walked straight into a war that’s been raging since 2018.

On one side, he is to carry the Irish torch and worship at the altar of McGregor. On the other, he made the egregious mistake of showing sportsmanship to a Nurmagomedov. The punishment? A full-scale McGregor social media meltdown, complete with deleted tweets and even a machine gun rant.

The way Sonnen sees it, Hughes is just an Irish fighter who had his fight, Khabib is a global figure embraced by all, and The Notorious? Well, he’s trying to make this a thing. He’s still clinging to the old “Dagestan vs. Ireland” narrative, painting Hughes as a traitor for not buying into it. But the truth? Nobody else really cares. As Sonnen put it, “it’s kind of one of these interesting things that isn’t carrying a lot more weight within our industry than some clickbait.”

And yet, Conor McGregor keeps hammering away, as if Hughes personally burned an Irish flag in front of him. Let’s rewind. After going five grueling rounds with Usman Nurmagomedov, Hughes had the audacity, the sheer nerve, to shake the Dagestani leader’s hand and tell him, “I’m not like the other guy.” The horror!

A post-fight comment that Conor McGregor turned into an international crisis

That one harmless sentence somehow sent ‘The Notorious’ into an online frenzy, transforming Hughes from a promising Irish fighter to a “turncoat bootlicker” overnight. Initially, the Irishman actually praised Hughes for his performance. But then, like clockwork, he did what he does best, switched gears and launched an unhinged tirade. Shots were fired off, insults were hurled, and the great Irish betrayal of 2024 was officially underway.

And just when you thought it couldn’t get any weirder, McGregor took things to comic-book villain levels by posting a video of himself unloading a machine gun at a shooting range, screaming obscenities at Hughes. Because, you know, that’s totally normal behavior, atleast considering the Conor scale.

Meanwhile, ‘Big News’, cool as ever, responded by basically shrugging it off. Speaking to Ariel Helwani, he said, “I’m focused on my career,” making it clear that McGregor’s words carry about as much weight as one of his X posts. But let’s be real—if McGregor had his way, Hughes would be exiled from Ireland for high treason.

Here’s the problem, being an Irish MMA fighter means you’re forever linked to McGregor, whether you like it or not. The Hughes vs. Usman fight was hyped as Ireland vs. Dagestan 2.0, because of course, every Irish-Dagestani matchup must now be a sequel to the infamous 2018 McGregor-Khabib brawl. But Hughes? He wasn’t playing that game, he didn’t smash a bus window. Neither did he launch verbal tirades targeting his opponent, family, religion, etc. He simply fought, gave respect where it was due, and moved on. But McGregor? Oh no, he wasn’t about to let it slide.

And so, here we are. McGregor is firing off insults (and bullets), Hughes is only eyeing his career, and the MMA world is watching this bizarre feud unfold. Sonnen might be right, “Poor Hughes falls in between.” But will he ever be able to just exist outside McGregor’s chaos? Or is this just the beginning of another season of never-ending Irish soap opera? What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!