Darren Till has retracted a recent statement aimed at fellow ex-UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The former welterweight and middleweight MMA contender, who will box Anthony Taylor on January 18, inserted himself into the new beef between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor.
‘The Eagle’ restarted their feud by making harsh comments about Irish MMA, which he unfavorably compared to Dagestan as he looked ahead to an upcoming Bellator fight between his cousin, Usman Nurmagomedov, and Northern Irish MMA star, Paul Hughes.
Darren Till leaped to the defense of Irish fighters after misunderstanding Nurmagomedov’s point.
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Darren Till takes back his comments
Darren Till originally thought that an unfair comparison was being made between Irish and Russian MMA.
The two countries have vastly different population sizes and therefore produce a different level of athletic talent.
“I’ve always respected Khabib and his team a lot they are fantastic fighters,” Till tweeted.
“But for him to sit there and say fighters from Ireland are low level in comparison of sizes of countries and production Ireland is actually way ahead Ireland is so f—— small and Russia is so f—— big.
“Ireland has produced amazing fighters over the years I would say just over size and production of the country Ireland wins every time and this is not me being biased because I am neither friends with Khabib’s side or Ireland’s side I’m just stating my opinion.”
However, Nurmagomedov was specifically talking about the Dagestan region of Russia, which actually has a smaller population than Ireland.
After realizing that, Till returned to social media to own up to his mistake and retract his statement.
“I have to retract this tweet,” he said. “Khabib was talking about only Dagestan not Russia. I misread…”
What did Khabib Nurmagomedov say?
Khabib Nurmagomedov started a whole lot of drama during a recent interview with PFL.
“Brother, Ireland don’t have fighters, brother,” he said.
“Let’s be honest. How many fighters do you know from Ireland? Paul Hughes and Conor [McGregor]. And who else? There is no fighters, brother.
“You come Dagestan, you can understand. You know, so many organizations, they don’t even sign Dagestan fighters because they worry about like, everybody can become champion.”
“Let’s be honest: Dagestan level of MMA here (raises arm high). But Ireland level, like not even half of Dagestan level.”
The 29-0 MMA icon got quite a bit of flack for his opinion, but he decided to double down on it.
“You can say whatever you want, but if we’re talking about facts, you can’t compare Irish fighters with fighters from Dagestan,” Nurmagomedov tweeted on Friday.
“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. And when it comes to professional MMA, we have champions, contenders, and ranked fighters in every major league.
“Show me Irish fighters who are currently title contenders in the top 3 MMA promotions. At best, you might be able to name 1 or 2 fighters. The facts speak for themselves.”
Unlike Till, Nurmagomedov won’t be retracting his comments about Irish MMA anytime soon.
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