Usman Nurmagomedov stays undefeated, however simply by the pores and skin of his enamel.
On Saturday, Nurmagomedov defended his light-weight title in opposition to Paul Hughes in the primary occasion of PFL Dubai. After 5 hard-fought rounds, Nurmagomedov took house a majority resolution victory.
Within the build-up to the combat, a lot was constructed from Nurmagomedov about how he didn’t actually know a lot about Hughes and the way Hughes didn’t deserve this combat. The Irish star made Nurmagomedov eat these phrases, defending takedowns with ease and punishing Nurmagomedov with pictures to the physique. In return, Nurmagomedov chewed away on the physique and legs of Hughes with a near-endless provide of kicks.
After a aggressive opening two rounds, issues took a nasty flip for Nurmagomedov when he obtained a degree deduction within the third spherical for repeated low blows. In a determined spot, Nurmagomedov lastly began to search out success along with his wrestling however Hughes continued to raise his personal sport in response.
Issues took an much more dramatic flip within the fourth spherical when an inadvertent conflict of heads put Nurmagomedov in some critical ache and opened up a reduce on Hughes’s brow. This led to an unimaginable second of Hughes lined in his personal blood, wanting on the harm Nurmagomedov like a lion ready to pounce.
As soon as issues restarted, Nurmagomedov managed to compose himself and shortly rating a takedown to journey out the spherical. The fifth spherical was simply as dramatic although with Nurmagomedov touchdown an early takedown, however Hughes roaring again down the stretch, with each males slugging it out to finish the perfect combat of 2025 to date.
Ultimately, Nurmagomedov remained undefeated, successful a majority resolution with scores of 47-47, 48-46, and 48-46 on the judges scorecards.
After the bout, each males have been extraordinarily complimentary of one another, with Nurmagomedov even acknowledging that he underestimated Hughes, saying that Hughes made him a greater fighter tonight.
Try the total PFL Dubai outcomes.