Conor McGregor has taken his feud with Paul Hughes to another level (Image: Getty Images)
, the former two-weight champion, escalated his verbal assault on fellow Irishman Paul Hughes.
A recent video circulating online showed Hughes conversing with Khabib Nurmagomedov after his high-profile lightweight bout against Usman Nurmagomedov in Dubai. In the conversation, Hughes seemed to take a jab at McGregor, stating he’s “not like this other guy.”
McGregor responded with a string of derogatory tweets, which were later deleted, targeting Hughes and questioning his Irish roots. Hughes swiftly countered with a witty reply, saying: “[Conor McGregor] always said u were the goat, payed homage at every opportunity. But coming at my Irish identity just shows where your head is at.”
McGregor continued the feud with an explicit three-word insult on X, which was quickly removed. The post read: “Foreign d*** sucker.” The Irish fighter further intensified the trash talk by posting a video of himself firing a machine gun and telling Hughes to “eat lead.”
The video’s caption read: “YOU BUM, LICK A***, TURN COAT, BOOTLICKIN’ MOTHERF******, EAT LEAD!” Despite Conor McGregor’s recent tirade, Ian “Big News” Hughes has not yet responded. Speaking with Ariel Helwani on Wednesday evening, Hughes discussed his thoughts on McGregor’s comments: “I wasn’t offended at all. Now, a lot of people in Ireland, especially in the north of Ireland, couldn’t be any more deeply offended about the thing he said.
“But I’m not actually offended or didn’t take it personally at all, because, it sounds bad, but it just seems like it’s another day in his life of just tweeting madness. It’s not like I seen that and went, ‘Oh, I can’t believe he said this about me.’ I think it’s just another day in the life for him. I just don’t hold weight to his opinion anymore as to these sorts of things.”
Hughes expressed that although initially taken aback by the personal nature of McGregor’s attack, he eventually dismissed it, stating, “It’s kind of a sad thing to say that, but that’s actually just the reality of how I felt. In fact, I kind of just laughed at it when I seen it. It’s not something I’ve been thinking about all day and going, ‘Oh, this and my identity, and this and that.’ It’s like, yeah, initially I was like, ‘Don’t come at my identity. Like, that’s ridiculous.’ But then I was just like, ‘This guy, he’s on one, and I just don’t care,’ you know?”.
Fans have rallied around Hughes, criticising McGregor’s conduct with one supporter stating: “As an Irish person it’s hard to look up to Conor anymore. Paul is a true representation of IRELAND and Irish MMA. Great skills, great heart, wants to give the fans great fights! “Another chimed in with support, saying: “You’re more Irish than he ever will be,” A third expressed national pride, proclaiming: “You have made Irish more proud than the other bum.”
Echoing these sentiments, another fan declared: “Paul you are a better representation of Ireland than he ever was or ever will be.” Finally, a fifth advised Hughes: “Paul don’t worry about what that guy has to say. While he was once great he’s since diminished into something far more sinister. Be the new identity of Irish fighting, you guys don’t need him anymore.”