PFL lightweight champ Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes throw down in a highly-anticipated rematch next month, following up on a January 2025 instant classic that got the entire MMA fanbase talking.
To date, no one has pushed Nurmagomedov the way Hughes did that night in Dubai. Now, they return to that very same setting for the rematch, with Hughes having earned a 42-second knockout of Bruno Miranda in the interim.
Despite Nurmagomedov and his camp initially being chilly on the rematch, Hughes isn’t taking it personally. “No, I didn’t feel disrespected, I think it’s just business,” he said during a recent face-off interview with media outlets including Cageside Press. “That’s just how this game goes, but I obviously earned this rematch by getting the 42 second knockout. It’s also the fight that the fans want to see, so it’s ultimately what you must do in this sport.”
As for Nurmagomedov, a cousin of UFC legend Khabib and brother of UFC bantamweight contender Umar Nurmagomedov, Usman has ironed out issues in his fight camp that dogged him last time out, he stated. “This camp, it’s like, everything’s different this time. I have high-level training partners, I have my team with me. I can’t even imagine how I can lose this fight. In our first fight, if I won the first fight with that camp, this time, it’s going to be like all different. In my mind, in my shape, physically, conditioning, everything’s going to be different.”
While he would later add that anything can happen in a fight, “If you’re fighting and other guy shows better shape, better condition, of course then you have to work more. But for this fight, I can say only one thing: He has to be ready, because I’m coming. This is not the same Usman who was [fighting] in January. This is a different Usman. And I know he’s going to be different too. That’s why I think this is one of the best fights of this year. It’s going to be one of the best fights of this year, me and Paul Hughes.”
After spending five full rounds in the cage with Nurmagomedov already, Northern Ireland’s Paul Hughes knows that he needs to build on and learn from that experience. “I have to learn as much as I possibly can from that, and implement it on the night.”
Watch the full face-off interview with Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes above. The pair headline PFL Champions Series 3 on October 3, 2025 in Dubai.
