Paul Hughes accepts Khabib Nurmagomedov's invitation to Dagestan but "only" if one condition is met

Paul Hughes has issued his response to Khabib Nurmagomedov's invitation for him, his family and team to visit Dagestan, Russia. The Irishman was gracious, expressing a willingness to travel to Dagestan and even highlighting how great an honor the request is.

However, he won't do so unless one very specific condition is met. Hughes will only visit Dagestan if he is, at some point, granted a rematch with reigning Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov, who he faced at PFL Champions Series 1 yesterday.

"Thank you @TeamKhabib I have great respect for you, your team and your nation.. I would be honoured to take you up on this offer someday and then return the favour in Ireland. But please, only after I get to rematch Usman."

Hughes was even kind of enough to extend a similar invitation to Khabib, calling on him to visit Ireland. In a manner, the mutual goodwill expressed by the UFC Hall of Famer and Hughes puts to rest the feud between Dagestan and Ireland, which recently caught fire in MMA.

In fact, Hughes had ramped up the feud ahead of PFL Champions Series 1 by inviting fellow Irishman Conor McGregor, with whom 'The Eagle' has a bitter rivalry, to corner him in his bout with Usman. Unfortunately for Hughes, the former UFC double champion never turned up to the bout.

In an even more unfortunate turn of events for Hughes, he was declared the loser of his Bellator lightweight title fight with Usman, despite mounting an exceptional effort and Usman being docked a point for repeated low blows.

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Paul Hughes has reacted to Usman Nurmagomedov's reluctance to rematch him

After what was easily the most difficult fight of his career, such that many feel that Paul Hughes did enough to earn the judges' decision, Usman Nurmagomedov spoke about the matchup backstage. Despite the Irishman's performance, Nurmagomedov claimed that he would have to do much to earn a rematch.

Naturally, Hughes caught wind of this and was more than amused.

"Hahah."

Hughes has become a dark horse in the Bellator lightweight division, defeating former Bellator featherweight champion and grappler extraordinaire A.J. Mckee, before ultimately pushing Nurmagomedov to the absolute limit.