This past Saturday in the main event of PFL Europe Belfast, one of the biggest stars in the promotion got to fight in front of his home country. Top lightweight contender Paul “Big News” Hughes (14-2) took on Brazil’s Bruno Miranda (17-6).
Now, Miranda isn’t the biggest name in the world but this wasn’t a squash matchup. Miranda had been in there with the likes of former Bellator champs Patricky Pitbull and Brent Primus. He also faced former PFL lightweight champion Olivier Aubin-Mercier in the 2023 playoffs. This was a good fight for Hughes, but Hughes made it look like a total mismatch.
Just over 30 seconds into the first round, Hughes landed a massive left hook that put Miranda down. Hughes followed up with big shots that earned him the TKO win at just 42 seconds and the crowd went crazy.
Following the fight, Hughes had one thing or should I say, one man on his mind and that’s lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov (19-0, 1 NC).
PFL Champions Series: Nurmagomedov – Hughes 2
Back in January, Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes had a fight that might go down as the best fight from the PFL all year. They had an instant classic where it went all five rounds and it was a very close fight. I scored the fight 48-46 for Nurmagomedov but given a point deduction from Nurmagomedov in the third round, it could’ve been 47-47.
In the end, it was a majority decision for Usman Nurmagomedov and he retained his lightweight title. At the time, there were calls for an immediate rematch. However, I think the PFL did the right thing. This is two of the biggest stars that they have and I think they needed to let a potential rematch marinate.
Hughes was able to get a fight in front of his hometown crowd in Belfast and he did what he needed to do with a first round stoppage. That just makes the rematch even more compelling. Last week, the Champions Series was officially announced with it’s first event taking place in July.
Sources within the promotion say there is likely going to be four PFL Champions Series events this year. Whether it’s the second or the third event, the rematch between Nurmagomedov and Hughes has to headline one of those cards. It’s the biggest fight they can make and it’s going to happen.