Khabib Nurmagomedov's opinion about Dagestani MMA standing above Irish MMA was initially contested by Darren Till. Now, though, the Englishman has withdrawn his counterpoint after coming to the realization that he had misunderstood the UFC Hall of Famer's claim.
Taking to X/Twitter, Till made the realization that Nurmagomedov was comparing Dagestani MMA, not Russian MMA, to the Irish MMA scene. For this reason, he penned a short a tweet acknowledging his mistake, which is uncharacteristic for the brash Englishman.
"I have to retract this tweet. Khabib was only talking about Dagestan not Russia. I misread..."
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In terms of MMA accomplishments, Nurmagomedov may very well have a point. Ireland hasn't produced many high-profile fighters. Conor McGregor remains the country's only UFC champion, with 'The Notorious' having captured the promotion's lightweight and featherweight titles in historic fashion.
Ian Machado Garry, another Irishman, is another high-level fighter, and is currently ranked close to the top five in the welterweight division. He recently faced undefeated 170-pound boogeyman Shavkat Rakahmonov at UFC 310, becoming the first fighter to make it to a decision with 'The Nomad,' albeit still losing.
Lastly, there's Paul Hughes, who is scheduled to challenge Usman Nurmagomedov for the Bellator lightweight title at Road to Dubai Champions Series: Nurmagomedov vs. Hughes on Jan. 25. Dagestan, by comparison, has experienced far more success.
Khabib himself is a former UFC lightweight champion, with one of his title defenses consisting of a dominant fourth-round submission win over McGregor. Moreover, he is also a UFC Hall of Famer. His protegé, Islam Makhachev, is the current UFC lightweight champion, having matched the divisional title defense record.
Magomed Ankalaev is a former UFC light heavyweight title challenger and expected to challenge for the title again sometime this year. Umar Nurmagomedov will challenge Merab Dvalishvili for UFC bantamweight gold at UFC 311 on Jan. 18. And of course, Usman is the Bellator lightweight champion.
Khabib Nurmagomedov doubled down on his assertion about Dagestani MMA
Despite the controversy he sparked with his recent claim, Khabib Nurmagomedov tweeted out a second statement, scoffing at any outrage expressed over his opinion.
"You can say whatever you want, but if we're talking about facts, you can't compare Irish fighters with fighters from Dagestan. We dominate amateur MMA, and it's not even close—not just compared to Irish fighters but the whole world. I'm absolutely confident that if we were to organize a team vs. team matchup, Dagestan would defeat a world team in amateur MMA."
This drew another response from Till, at the time, who made a tongue-in-cheek refernece to Ali Abdelaziz tweeting on his fighters' behalf.