Unstoppable Usman Nurmagomedov Beats Paul Hughes in Rematch – PFL Dubai Highlights
Usman Nurmagomedov kept his ‘O’ intact, scoring yet another closely contested victory over Paul Hughes in the PFL Dubai headliner on Friday.
Nurmagomedov got Hughes down to the mat late in the first round, though it came moments after Hughes absorbed a low blow that the referee opted to ignore. Hughes started to find his range in the second, though that didn’t keep Nurmagomedov from taking him down once again.
The third was the most competitive up to that point, with Hughes looking to land his big right hand. However, Nurmagomedov may have swung the scorecards into his favor with a late takedown.
Less than a minute into the fourth, Hughes was the recipient of another nasty low blow that brought a pause to the bout. Hughes appeared to be in immense pain, lying belly down near the corner. Fortunately, he was able to continue after a few moments. Shortly after the restart, Nurmagomedov notched another takedown before stinging Hughes with a brutal body kick.
With the fight potentially tied, we headed to the fifth round. As was the case with most of the contest before it, the final five minutes were fairly competitive. The most significant strike of the round came due to an inadvertent clash of heads that cut open Nurmagomedov with a little more than a minute to go.
Nurmagomedov responded with another big takedown, putting a punctuation mark on the round and securing himself another big win over the Irish superstar.
Official Result: Usman Nurmagomedov def. Paul Hughes via unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 48-47) to win the PFL lightweight world championship.
