February 13, 2025 3: 30 pm ET
Paul Hughes doesn’t expect to reconcile with Conor McGregor anytime soon.
Like many Irish fighters, Hughes looked up to the former UFC two-division champion. Up until his title fight against Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov at PFL Champions Series: Road to Dubai last month, Hughes had McGregor’s support.
Hughes lost a close decision to Nurmagomedov, which McGregor called a robbery. But after Hughes paid his respects to the Nurmagomedov team by saying, “I’m not like that other guy,” in reference to McGregor’s hatred towards Khabib Nurmagomedov, “The Notorious” went off on him.
“Everyone’s seen my response to it; it wasn’t a very militant response,” Hughes told MMA Junkie Radio. “It was what it was. It ended up a lot of people done the fighting for me in terms of the comments and the pushback. So yeah, it was what it was.”
Seeing your idol insult you is never a good feeling, but Hughes insists M