Paul Hughes responds to Conor McGregor’s brutal rant with harsh truth about the UFC superstar

Paul Hughes isn’t interested in a war of words with Conor McGregor, but he feels his fellow Irishman has lost his way.

Ahead of Hughes’ big Bellator lightweight title fight against Usman Nurmagomedov, McGregor showed his support for “Big News.” Hughes even offered McGregor to serve as a cornerman for the fight, but it didn’t materialize. Hughes ended up putting forth an elite effort that just barely fell short of a world title. He lost the highly competitive championship bout via majority decision.

After the fight, UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov grabbed the mic and showed his respect to Hughes and Ireland despite past beef with the “other guy” in McGregor. Cameras caught Hughes approaching Khabib and telling him he isn’t like McGregor, and the two embraced.

This led to McGregor blasting Hughes and questioning his nationality.

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RELATED: CONOR MCGREGOR CONTINUES TO TAKE AIM AT PAUL HUGHES OVER HIS RECENT COMMENTS: “PATHETIC OF THE HIGHEST ORDER”

Paul Hughes Says Conor McGregor of Old No Longer Exists

In an interview with MMAFighting.com, Paul Hughes gave his reaction to Conor McGregor bashing him for simply embracing Team Khabib following his five-round war with Usman Nurmagomedov.

“It was obviously a very extreme kind of viewpoint that he was taking,” Hughes told MMA Fighting about McGregor’s comments. “Obviously an unbelievably disrespectful one.

“It’s probably the most disrespectful thing you could say to a fellow Irishman is that he’s not Irish just because I come from the north of the country.”

Hughes isn’t taking what McGregor said to heart, however. He believes the “Notorious” one isn’t the same man who aspiring Irish fighters looked up to.

“Look as I’ve talked about a couple of times now, I didn’t take it very personally,” Hughes explained. “Because unfortunately it’s not the Conor that we once knew. So people are saying, ‘Is it hard to hear that from someone you looked up to?’ I kind of take it with a pinch of salt for that reason. It is what it is. I wasn’t distraught about what he said, put it like that.

“Unfortunately it seems that way [he’s just not the same person anymore]. I certainly hope it doesn’t stay that way. I wish all the best.”

McGregor has spent far more time on social media than inside the Octagon these days. He hasn’t competed since 2021 when he broke his leg in a trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier. In the span of McGregor’s inactivity, Hughes has had seven fights, going 6-1 in that stretch.