Earlier this morning, the PFL sent out a press release announcing a massive Bellator lightweight title fight that’ll be going down on January 25th. It was announced that lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov (18-0, 1 NC) will be defending his title against Ireland’s Paul Hughes (13-1).
The promotion is dubbing the bout as Dagestan vs. Ireland 2 calling back to the highest selling MMA fight of all time, Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor. Hughes has actually said that he’d love for McGregor to be in his corner for the potential title fight against Nurmagomedov.
Hughes is jumping right to a title shot after two fights under the PFL / Bellator banner. Hughes made his promotional debut last June when he stopped Bobby King in the second round. Then, he faced former Bellator champion AJ McKee at the PFL Super Fights event last month. Hughes won a split decision and that win earned him this shot against Nurmagomedov.
Bellator Lightweight Title Fight
Many people say that Usman Nurmagomedov might be the best lightweight in the world. The undefeated Nurmagomedov won the lightweight title by dominating Patricky Pitbull back in 2022. From there, Bellator did the Lightweight Grand Prix and Nurmagomedov blitzed Benson Henderson in his first official title defense.
In his second title defense, he dominated Brent Primus but the bout was overturned to a No Contest due to a positive drug test from Nurmagomedov. Nurmagomedov returned a couple months ago and dominated Alexander Shabliy and he retained his lightweight title.
Now, he’ll take on Paul Hughes in the biggest lightweight matchup that could happen under the PFL / Bellator banner.