Ireland’s biggest sporting superstar and the prodigal son of MMA, Conor McGregor certainly did not appreciate Khabib Nurmagomedov’s comments regarding the state of Irish MMA. ‘The Eagle’ claims Ireland hasn’t produced as many fighters as his native country of Russia, but a fellow UFC Hall of Famer appears to have backed Ireland in this situation.

While Michael Bisping is English and has a Northern Irish mother, ‘The Count’ decided to give some Irish combat sports lessons to Khabib Nurmagomedov. Firstly, the former 185lbs kingpin made it clear that he isn’t denying the fact that most fans would only think of McGregor when they start talking about Irish MMA fighters. These are what most people in the MMA community call ‘casual fans’.

“When you talk about Ireland in UFC terms, the first name that comes to mind is Conor McGregor. Of course, he’s the first name that comes to mind for most people,” Michael Bisping stated on his YouTube channel. “If you’re a casual, if you don’t know much about UFC, you might mention UFC to someone, they’ll say, ‘What? That thing that Conor McGregor does, right?'”

However, that’s not it for Irish MMA, according to Michael Bisping. He then proceeded to name a few past and present Irish MMA fighters besides Conor McGregor, that too, in the UFC. “There’s been a lot of great Irish fighters over the years – Cathal Pandred back in the day, Rhys McKee, of course, Ian Machado Garry. He’s doing great things as well,” the fighter-turned-broadcaster further stated. Moreover, Bisping would let Khabib Nurmagomedov know that the Irish are known for their fighting spirit.

Michael Bisping tells Khabib Nurmagomedov that he can get into a fight anywhere in Ireland

Guinness and whiskey aren’t the only things the Republic of Ireland is famous for, because there’s also a saying that represents their never-say-die spirit known as the ‘Fighting Irish’. As such, Michael Bisping issued a word of caution to Nurmagomedov and added that he would have all the opportunities to get into a scuffle in any Irish city. On that note, he claims that it is unwise to ‘mock’ Ireland for not having fighters because there have been a lot of combat sports icons hailing from the Emerald Isle.

“If you go on the streets of Ireland, you go downtown Dublin and you’re trying to look for a fight, you’re gonna find one pretty quickly. They are certainly not a country to mock when it comes to fighting,” Bisping added.

Nurmagomedov may not have taken into consideration the current bunch of active fighters making their way into the biggest MMA organizations in the world. From the PFL to the UFC, there are a lot of them with good records and capabilities to become champions. But what do you have to say? Do you agree with Michael Bisping’s statements supporting Irish fighters? Let us know your thoughts on this debate in the comments down below.