Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov have a rivalry filled with bad blood, and it has carried over into other fights. This came to the forefront during the buildup to the PFL bout between defending titleholder Usman Nurmagomedov and Irish title contender Paul Hughes.
Before the fight, Khabib Nurmagomedov made remarks about the talent pool in Irish MMA, stating that it is much shallower in his eyes compared to the Dagestan talent pool in the sport.
Appearing on Bowks Talking Bouts, Denis Frimpong discussed multiple topics before his fight against Robin Frank at Oktagon 68 on March 8. As an Irish representative in the sport, Frimpong shared his thoughts on Nurmagomedov's comments.
After noting that fighters from Dagestan and Russia have been practicing MMA techniques for many years before their Irish counterparts, Frimpong said:
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"They've been doing like sambo and all that for years before the Irish even knew what wrestling was and all that kind of stuff. But again, at the end of the day the Irish have been great boxers and everyone prefers watching boxing anyway. Probably the most successful MMA fighter ever to come out of the UFC is Irish.
"First ever double champ, most successful in terms of money. Yeah, Khabib beat him but let's be honest, Conor is still richer and more famous. It depends on what you're looking at. Are you looking to be a prizefighter or are you looking to be a skill fighter? It's one of them. I didn't take any personal offense to it because like you said, it's just intrinsic bias."
Check out Denis Frimpong's thoughts on Khabib Nurmagomedov's comments on Irish MMA [at the 17:16 mark] below:
Conor McGregor and his recent Nate Diaz anniversary
Conor McGregor recently marked an important anniversary involving another one of his famous foes. This was not against the previously referenced Khabib Nurmagomedov, but against Nate Diaz, who had famously proclaimed that McGregor was "taking everything he worked for."
On March 5, 2016, Diaz and McGregor faced off for the first time. McGregor was initially supposed to battle for the lightweight title, as he was the reigning UFC featherweight champion at the time and was looking to become a dual champion. However, Rafael Dos Anjos pulled out of the fight due to an injury, creating a vacancy that Diaz capitalized on.
Diaz rocked and then submitted McGregor in the second round of their UFC 196 clash. The Dublin native went on to win the rematch by points at UFC 202 in August of the same year. A potential rubber match still hangs in the balance nine years after their initial meeting.