Usman Nurmagomedov insists a rematch with Paul Hughes won’t happen until he gives the green light.
In January, Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s cousin picked up a razor-thin decision win over the Irishman after a five-round lightweight title fight that left fans clamoring for an immediate rematch.
That didn’t happen, so the PFL booked ‘Big News’ for a Belfast homecoming against Bruno Miranda.
Paul Hughes secured a 42-second win before calling out Usman Nurmagomedov on Saturday night.
Usman Nurmagomedov wants to control rematch timeline
Post-fight, Paul Hughes shared a clip of his quickfire knockout on social media.
“THANK YOU BELFAST,” he captioned the Instagram post. “My dreams came true tonight.
“@usman_nurmagomedov YOUR TIME IS COMING.”
Nurmagomedov took to the comment section to congratulate Hughes on his bounce-back win.
The 27-year-old also insisted that he will control the timeline of their eagerly anticipated rematch.
“Congratulations. Good job,” Nurmagomedov commented.
“We will do it again but when I say.”
He added, with a crying laughing emoji: “Man, I didn’t even know you were fighting.”
Paul Hughes names Usman Nurmagomedov alternative
Hughes understands that it won’t be easy to get a rematch with Nurmagomedov over the line.
In the meantime, the 28-year-old has named a former world champion he wants to fight instead.
“There’s plenty of options,” Hughes said during an exclusive chat with Bloody Elbow in February.
“There is one name that I think is the best in terms of storyline for building a rematch and that is Brent Primus.
“Former champion. Usman could not finish him. They had a close enough fight. That I think would be a perfect fight for me in Belfast because I know I’d finish him, then we’d have that common opponent and it sets up an even bigger rematch.”