Paul Hughes gets honest about Conor McGregor's "unbelievably disrespectful" temper tantrum over Khabib Nurmagomedov chat: "I wasn't distraught"

Conor McGregor's fall from grace is one that fellow Irishman, Paul Hughes, has lamented in the wake of the former's recent tirade over Khabib Nurmagomedov. Many condemned the former UFC double champion for his actions, as he unleashed an expletive, slur-filled attack on Khabib, as well as one on Hughes.

It marks the most unhinged period of McGregor's social media activity and it was all due to Hughes' friendly post-fight interaction with Khabib following his majority decision loss to Usman Nurmagomedov. Not only was he disrespectful, but Hughes made it a point to distinguish himself from McGregor.

McGregor has since responded with rage, targeting both Hughes and Khabib. Now, in an interview with MMA Fighting, Hughes shared his thoughts on his former idol.

"It was obviously a very extreme kind of viewpoint that he was taking. Obviously an unbelievably disrespectful one. It's probably the most disrespectful thing you could say to a fellow Irishman is that he's not Irish just because I come from the north of the country."

The cultural context behind McGregor's dismissal of Hughes' Irish identity revolves around the difference between the Republic of Ireland, which is a sovereign country, and Northern Ireland, which remains part of the United Kingdom. Hughes, unlike McGregor, is from Northern Ireland.

Nevertheless, he opted to take the high road in response to the UFC legend's rants.

"But look, as I've talked about a couple of times now, I didn't take it very personally, because unfortunately it's not the Conor that we once knew. So people are saying, 'Is it hard to hear that from someone you looked up to?' I kind of take it with a pinch of salt for that reason. It is what it is. I wasn't distraught about what he said, put it like that."

Check out Paul Hughes' thoughts on Conor McGregor's remarks (13:55):

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Conor McGregor and Artem Lobov also had a fallout

Ironically, the two instances of a relationship between Conor McGregor and a former acquaintance souring involved Khabib Nurmagomedov, who the legendary Irishman despises more than anyone. Prior to Paul Hughes, it was Artem Lobov, a Russian-Irish fighter who was once a close friend of his.

Unfortunately, Lobov, who once defended McGregor by insulting Nurmagomedov, later turned on him by claiming that he played a large part in Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey's success.