The Bellator lightweight title is staying in Dagestan but the reign of the current champion was certainly put to the test this past weekend.
In the main event of the first PFL Road to Dubai Champions Series, Usman Nurmagomedov successfully defend his belt in a phenomenal clash against Ireland's Paul Hughes.
In the build-up to the fight, some questioned whether the champion was underestimating his opponent due to come comments that he made about the current skill level of his challenger.
After being pushed to the limit by Hughes and narrowly coming out on top via the scorecards, Nurmagomedov admitted in his post-fight interview that "Big News" certainly has his respect now:
“Paul Hughes, brother, you are the man, brother,” Nurmagomedov said. “You’re really the man. Brother, you are tough. Honestly, I underestimated this guy. Whew. It was my little mistake, but still undefeated, undisputed, Bellator lightweight champion, Usman Nurmagomedov.”
Nurmagomedov also went on to speak about what Hughes did to impress him so much in the fight and exceed his expectations:
“His wrestling defense, takedown defense [went] very well,” Nurmagomedov said. “He’s tough, he’s strong. I didn’t think he would be this strong, brother. Brother, you are really strong [laughs]. You tell me in the face to face, this was my mistake, you were right, brother. Thank you so much.
“I never take this damage, what I take with him in this fight. I have a lot of pain on my body. Brother, thank you for this fight. I think I jumped to next level because of him. He make me better than I was today. And I think, for sure, he got better, too. Thank you so much, Paul. I really respect you brother.”
Watch the full interview below:
