UFC 320 may be grabbing most of the headlines this weekend, but before the action kicks off at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, there’s the small matter of the PFL Champions Series event taking place Friday in Dubai.
Two of the top fighters outside the UFC are set to go head-to-head in a rematch of their World MMA Awards Fight of the Year contender from last January. Ireland’s Paul Hughes (14-2) gets another crack at the unbeaten Usman Nurmagomedov (19-0) after pushing the former Bellator champion to the brink in their first meeting.
The card also includes a light heavyweight title fight, a bantamweight contenders’ clash, and a pair of intriguing promotional debuts.
PFL Champions Series Dubai Results
MAIN CARD
- Vacant Lightweight Title: Usman Nurmagomedov defeated Paul Hughes via unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 48-47) - Nurmagomedov is the new PFL lightweight champion
- Vacant Light Heavyweight Title: Corey Anderson vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov via unanimous decision (49-45, 48-47, 49-45) - Corey Andersen is the new PFL light heavyweight champion
- Bantamweight: Sergio Pettis defeated Magomed Magomedov via knockout at 4:31 of round two
- Lightweight: Archie Colgan defeated Jay Jay Wilson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 292-8)
- 140 Pounds Catchweight: Jack Cartwright defeated Caolan Loughran via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Heavyweight: Pouya Rahmani defeated Slim Trabelsi via TKO at 2:47 of round one
- Welterweight: Florim Zendeli defeated Omar El Dafrawy via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Lightweight: Mirafzal Akhtamov defeated Luann Sardinha via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
- Lightweight: Takeshi Izumi defeated Vinicius Cenci via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Lightweight: Makkasharip Zaynukov defeated John Mitchell via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-28)
- Middleweight: Jarrah Al-Silawi defeated Gregory Babene via split decision (29-28, 30-27, 28-29)
