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Heading into the PFL: “Battle of the Giants” pay-per-view (PPV) event in Riyadh, AJ McKee insisted that Paul Hughes was not ready for the step up in competition and would be taught a lesson when the SmartCage door closed on Saturday night.
Instead, the student became the teacher.
Despite a wacky, split decision scorecard, the 27 year-old Hughes was the superior fighter across all three rounds of action, dropping the former Bellator MMA champion in the opening frame and never taking his foot off the gas until the final bell.
“Big News” has arrived.
“PFL believed in me and look at me now,” Hughes said after the fight. “I took the risk, I fought one of the best guys on the planet. Here I am, a young kid from rural Ireland on the big stage. I believed and I doubled-down on myself. At the end of the day, we all know who we wanna see next. We wanna see Ireland vs. Dagestan. We wanna see Paul Hughes vs. Usman Nurmagomedov for the Bellator lightweight belt. We should do it in Dubai; otherwise, let’s bring it to Belfast. Let’s go!”
Nurmagomedov is the current Bellator MMA lightweight champion.
“What a big win for “Big News” Paul Hughes!” fellow Irishman Conor McGregor wrote on Twitter. Solidified! Bravo bro, well in!”
Nurmagomedov has yet to comment.
For more PFL: “Battle of the Giants” news and results click here.
