Paul Hughes’ hopes for a rematch with Usman Nurmagomedov were dealt a big blow this week – but the fight may already be back on track.
Earlier this week, it was announced on the PFL’s official X account that Archie Colgan and Mansour Barnaoui would compete next week in Wichita for the number one contender spot to Nurmagomedov’s belt.
However, Jonathan Coachman, who operated as a spokesman for PFL following last night’s World Tournament semi-final sees the situation differently. And he believes that a rematch is still the best option for the promotion despite what was officially announced.
Paul Hughes offered Usman Nurmagomedov rematch lifeline by PFL insider
Following last night’s event in Nashville, Jonathan Coachman spoke to the press on behalf of the PFL’s management. And asked by Bloody Elbow about this week’s announcement that Colgan vs Barnaoui would be a number one contender’s fight, he seemed to indicate that nothing was set in stone.
“I don’t think that’s been confirmed yet and we actually talked a little bit today so you might be getting ahead of yourself a little bit,” he replied when the tweet was put to him. “As soon as we can we will and we’re going to listen to the fans.
“We’re not here to drag stuff out and say ‘Paul, you’ve got to fight two other guys to get back to him’. That’s not what we’re all about. But we also have to make the right fights, we have to bring in the right fighters at the right price.”
When asked why the official PFL account had tweeted definitively that the Colgan-Barnaoui winner would become number one contender, he answered: “Understand this, look at my Twitter.
“That’s all I’m going to say. We have issues right now with Twitter, we’ll deal with that but there’s nothing been set with that at all.”
Fans were outraged after latest PFL lightweight title announcement
The initial news of a new number one contender for Usman Nurmagomedov’s belt being crowned was received very poorly on social media. Paul Hughes jokingly referred to the announcement as ‘rage bait’, particularly given the efforts to which he has gone in order to secure a rematch.
Just last month he drew a sold out crowd to the SSE Arena in Belfast and viciously knocked out Bruno Miranda. After the fact, he cut a thunderous promo on Nurmagomedov seemingly setting up a perfect rematch storyline.
“Why on earth not do Usman vs Hughes 2?” Appeared to be the sentiment from fans across the board, with one even writing to chairman Donn Davis: “If you screw @paulhughesmma over by making this nonsense fight then your Promotion deserves to crumble and go away.”