Usman Nurmagomedov needed the scorecards again to defeat Paul Hughes as the pair did battle for a second time in front of a packed crowd at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.
The pair’s first meeting was considered a fight of the year contender, despite happening in January. This time around, Hughes was confident as ever, bringing a massive co-hort to the Middle East to watch him fight in what was, for all intents and purposes, a home fight.
The champion, flanked by his famous cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov and UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, believed the rematch wasn’t necessary.
Usman Nurmagomedov vs Paul Hughes 2 PFL result
Usman Nurmagomedov spared no expense with a fiery entrance to the cage that saw the packed arena blacked out following a patriotic Irish walk from Paul Hughes. However, the biggest shot that landed in the opening stanza was an illegal one to the groin of Hughes by his rival.
There appeared to be a second as the pair exchanged, but the referee waved it off and Hughes was forced to fight on. From there, Nurmagomedov took his back and pushed for the finish, although the Irishman defended valiantly and ended the round on his feet.
At the end of the first, the Russian appeared to get dirty as they faced off, although it seemed like Hughes reaction was a bit out of a soccer player’s handbook as he acted as though he’d been fully headbutted.
The second started more in the Irishman’s favor, as he looked to have found the range of his left hand and managed to avoid any damage when he was very briefly taken down. However, given the scoring earlier in the night and nine months prior, he knew he may need a finish.
Round 3 started much of the same, Nurmagomedov failing to land a takedown as the pair exchanged big damage on the feet. Hughes even seemed to wobble his rival towards the end of the round, although he did end up with his back taken on a takedown in the closing seconds.
Within seconds of the fourth, Hughes was down again with a low blow, opting to power through despite there being no point taken. He was then taken down twice, although one would question why Nurmagomedov bothered given his success on the feet.
Round five started with Hughes sending Nurmagomedov to a knee in what would have certainly been scored a knockdown in a boxing ring. The Russian replied with a takedown that did nothing, and ended up retreating from an onslaught as the tired Irishman threw everything at it.
A doctor had to step in to analyze a cut over Nurmagomedov’s eyes in the final seconds, but he powered on and the fight went the distance for a second time running. One judge somehow scored it 50-45, giving zero rounds to Hughes, while another had it 49-46 and the last had it 48-47.
Paul Hughes’s night got off to a bad start
Things were not initially looking up for Hughes as his two Irish co-horts on the undercard were defeated by unanimous decision. First off, Khabib Nurmagomedov got on the board early against Fight Academy Ireland as Makkasharip Zaynukov defeated John Mitchell.
Despite being a relatively close bout, one judge bizarrely scored it 30-26 against the Irishman, who had otherwise earned 29-28s.
Then it was on to Caolan Loughran, who was defeated 29-28 across the board by his fellow former Cage Warriors champion Jack Cartwright. However, Nurmagomedov did taste defeat moments before the main event as his charge Magomed Magomedov was knocked out by Sergio Pettis.