While Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes showed nothing but respect for one another in the aftermath of their battle at Saturday’s PFL event, a former fighter wasn’t impressed with one aspect of the Bellator lightweight champion’s post-fight approach.
The Professional Fighters League kicked off its schedule for 2025 with the Champions Series: Road to Dubai card inside Coca-Cola Arena, where Nurmagomedov and Hughes collided in a clash dubbed “Dagestan vs. Ireland 2.”
Like other results on the night, the win went to the former region, with the reigning Bellator titleholder emerging with the gold still in his possession by narrow margins.
Nurmagomedov had been largely dismissive of Hughes throughout the buildup, but he got a rude awakening when “Big News” gave him about all he could handle across five rounds in the Middle East.
The Dagestani acknowledged that he had underestimated his challenger, who echoed the sentiments of some in the community by suggesting he did enough to deserve the victory. With that in mind, he demanded an immediate rematch.
The champ, however, isn’t keen. And he went as far as to claim that the Irishman will need to beat three or four other opponents to earn a second opportunity.
During an episode of his Weighing In podcast alongside former referee John McCarthy, ex-UFC fighter Josh Thomson reacted to that suggestion.
“I didn’t like hearing Usman Nurmagomedov in the back saying, ‘No, he’s got to fight three or four more other fighters.’ That was weird,” Nurmagomedov said. “There’s not even three or four more other fighters in your guys’ weight class.”
Though Usman has made his stance clear, that hasn’t stopped Hughes from making his case. He recently responded to an invitation to visit Dagestan from Khabib Nurmagomedov by insisting a rematch with his cousin must come first.
The PFL, meanwhile, hasn’t divulged its plans for either man moving forward.
