The rematch between Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes is official for October 03 in Dubai as the PFL announced several fights for the event.
The Professional Fighter’s League announced on Wednesday morning that the highly anticipated rematch between now former Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov and Irish sensation Paul Hughes is set for October 03 at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.
In January, the two young talents engaged in a razor close five round contest that saw Nurmagomedov (19-0) edge out Hughes (14-2) to take home the decision. Since then, anticipation to see the two engage in a rematch with official gold on the line for the winner. While Nurmagomedov has not fought since, Hughes stopped Bruno Miranda in the first round in Ireland in May. Notably, the fight is now for the official PFL lightweight world championship. Earlier this year, it was confirmed that the promotion would be dissolving the remnants of the Bellator brand and the titles held by several of the fighters as it moved to create new belts streamlined under the PFL banner.
In the co-main event, the now final Bellator light-heavyweight champion Corey Anderson (19-6) will be competing for the new PFL world title in the same weight class. His opponent will be the 2024 tournament winner, Dovlet Yagshimuradov (25-7-1), who rides a seven fight win-streak going into the bout.
In other featured action, former BareKnuckle FC star and UFC veteran Artem Lobov (14-15-1) will meet Zubaira Tukhogov (20-6-1) who fights out of the Abdulmanap School in Dagestan. The two were notable for being the catalyst for one of the most infamous incidents in MMA history as the two entered an altercation in 2018 where Tukhogov, a teammate of UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov, confronted Lobov at the fighter hotel in Brooklyn, New York ahead of UFC 223. While no physical altercation occurred it did lead to retaliation by Lobov’s teammate, MMA superstar Conor McGregor, who went on to throw a moving dolly at the team bus containing several fighters containing UFC fighters including Nurmagomedov. The bad blood between Nurmagomedov and McGregor went on to sell the most bought UFC pay-per-view of all-time and led to a post-fight brawl that became as wide spread as the fight itself.
Other bouts that were announced include a bout between undefeated heavyweights Pouya Rahmani (4-0) and Slim Trabelsi (8-0) and a welterweight bout between Omar El Dafrawy (14-5) and Florim Zendeli (10-1-1).
