Hughes believes he was on the verge of beating Nurmagomedov before a pause due to head clash allowed his opponent to recover.
The PFL held it’s big Road To Dubai Champions Series event this past weekend in Dubai and if you didn’t catch the main event between Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes for the Bellator lightweight title, we encourage you to watch it now (highlights here).
Hughes and Usman engaged in a hard fought war over five rounds, with Usman coming up with the majority decision win. Many felt the fight was closer than the scorecards implied — including Hughes, who discussed the defeat on his Instagram.
“Obviously as always I’m gonna have to watch it back to get a proper clear minded assessment,” Hughes stated. “But as we know, we all thought I won that one. I think the judges’ scorecards were pretty ridiculous. But as I said, I’ll watch it back with a clear mind. I’m just judging from the energy of the arena and everyone surrounding the cage. I thought it was mine.”
Hughes managed to fend off most of Nurmagomedov’s takedowns and get back up when he was pulled to the canvas. He even hit a few slick switches on Usman, something few expected to see in this Ireland vs. Dagestan showdown. Both men landed good shots on the feet, but Nurmagomedov was just a bit more active through the first half of each round.
“I’m not going to make excuses, though, I should have pushed harder,” Hughes admitted. “I should have pushed harder and I will the next time. And I know we’ll fight again.”
Hughes pointed to a moment in the fourth round where there was a clash of heads as the pivotal point where the fight got away from him.
Here are the scorecards for Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Paul Hughes #PFLDubai pic.twitter.com/8YRysDEDD7
— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) January 25, 2025
“It felt like the stoppage in the fourth round with the head clash changed the momentum of the fight,” he said. “I feel like I was breaking him, I was ripping him so hard to the body, I felt him wheezing and I knew my momentum was coming up and I would have emptied the tank. But that changed, the flow, and he got good recovery, which, look, the head butt was a head butt, it was accidental. He has all the right to take that recovery.”
“But yeah I just wanted to win. I’m gutted. I’m proud of myself but I need to get that back. I deserve to have that belt soon.”
Hughes is already campaigning for a rematch in Belfast, Ireland while Nurmagomedov is saying it should happen in Dubai again. Now lest you think Usman won that off hometown judging, it was the Dubai judge that scored the fight a draw, while our old friends Sal D’Amato and Eric Colon scored it 48-46 for Nurmagomedov.