Bellator Set to Have Ireland vs Dagestan 2
The Bellator Champions Series would like to mine some of the hatred from the most anticipated MMA fight of all time — a fight between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in October 2018 — to create some magic in early 2025. McGregor, the most notorious Irish MMA star ever, had a heated rivalry with Nurmagodemov, who hails from Dagestan, which is a republic of Russia. Usman Nurmagomedov is the Bellator lightweight champion.
Usman is the brother of UFC fighter Umar Nurmagodemov and Khabib’s cousin. MMAfighting latest news shows that Paul Hughes isn’t a relative of McGregor but has plenty of potential. Hughes spurned the UFC to sign with the PFL and made clear that he wanted to prove he was a star.
When Jones debuted with the PFL in November, he won a decision over former Bellator champion A.J. MGee. Hughes and Usman are set to fight on Jan. 25, 2025, at the PFL: Road to Dubai Champions Series event. But will McGregor and Khabib be in both men’s corners?
McGregor May Have Other Things to Worry About
McGregor has already agreed to be in Hughes’ corner. The problem is that the timeline may not match up. There is a rumor that McGregor would like to return to fight Dan Hooker on Feb. 1, 2025. But that hasn’t been confirmed yet.
McGregor hasn’t fought in nearly four years, and his behavior is increasingly erratic. If McGregor did affect a fight against Hooker at that date, it would be unlikely he would get an opportunity to corner Hughes due to his obligations to promote the bout.
McGregor has also been involved in some legal battles at home. Recently, MMA news websites have found that McGregor lost a civil sexual assault case in his home country. While criminal charges won’t be pressed, McGregor has vowed to fight the financial settlement he was ordered to pay.
Would Khabib Really Want the Headache?
Part of what drove Khabib to hate McGregor was how the Irish star promoted the fight. During the leadup to their fight, MMA breaking news shows that McGregor insulted Khabib’s religion. There was also an incident where McGregor threw a bus dolly into a window of a bus full of fighters.
While McGregor believed all of this was part of building a fight, Khabib took things more personally. Famously, during Khabib’s fight with McGregor, Khabib was overheard saying “Let’s talk now” to McGregor during punches. After Khabib won the fight by submission, Khabib and McGregor’s team engaged in a wild brawl after the fight.
Khabib hopped the cage and went after Dillon Danis in the crowd. After the fight, Khabib’s team traded punches with an exhausted McGregor in the cage. It was an embarrassment for both fighters and the UFC.
But there is no debating whether the event was significant money for the UFC. The event sold 2.4 million pay-per-views, which is the highest in the promotion’s history. For UFC 300, a highly promoted card, the UFC only expected around 1 million buys.
Hughes Isn’t McGregor
At least not yet. While Hughes won a few belts in Cage Warriors, he hasn’t had the time to do it in one of the major promotions. Hughes is 13-1 in his career and had his biggest win to date in his last fight. But Hughes isn’t quite the talk McGregor is.
Despite McGregor’s flaws, he has never quite lost the charisma that helped carry him through his career. McGregor was also willing to say anything to sell a fight. It’s uncertain if Hughes is willing to accept the role of a bad guy.
Even if McGregor is in Hughes’ corner, the same heat from his fight with Khabib will be hard to generate. But it is interesting to see the PFL’s handling of Hughes. The PFL hasn’t shied away from putting Hughes in difficult fights.
Despite the harm a loss by Hughes could do to their business, the Irish fighter has proved he is capable of handling difficult challenges.
Usman is a Different Kind of Fighter
Usman has a much different fighting style from Khabib. While Usman is also a capable wrestler, he can finish fights better. Usman is 18-0 in his career, but he has eight knockouts.That’s as many as Khabib has during his 29-fight professional career. It will be interesting to see how Usman stacks up against Hughes. Hughes is a capable striker who can put a pace on his opponents. Usman will need to be on his toes.
McGregor wasn’t as well-known for having great cardio as Hughes is. That may give him an advantage to score a win over a Russian fighter when McGregor couldn’t against Khabib.
PFL Tries to Turn Back the Clock
There’s no doubt that the UFC and MMA are popular. But everyone who promotes the sport and makes money off the fights would like to recapture the magic of Khabib and McGregor. In MMA right now, it doesn’t seem like any fighters have the drawing power of Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey, Khabib, or McGregor.
Attempting to promote a fight between fighters from Dagestan and Ireland is an interesting angle. It will remind many fans about the past, which is a good thing. The question will be if the guys in the current generation will be able to inspire the fanbase to watch the events.
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By Dean McHugh.
