Professional Fighters League have announced the first-ever MMA card to take place in Dubai.
The city’s first Champions Series World Title event will be held on January 25 at Coca-Cola Arena.
The fight has been billed ‘Dagestan vs Ireland 2’ following Nurmagomedov vs McGregor[/caption]
The event will be headlined by rising Irish contender Paul Hughes as he takes on the undefeated Usman Nurmagomedov for the Bellator lightweight championship.
Nurmagomedov comes from Dagestan and is very close to former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who has appeared in the Russian’s corner before.
27-year-old Hughes from Derry, Northern Ireland, has not yet had Conor McGregor in his corner, but ‘The Notorious’ has previously attended and supported his fights.
The multi-year partnership between the PFL and the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) and Dubai Sports Council (DSC) will position the country as a global hub for MMA.
PFL will stage major annual global MMA events dubbed ‘Road to Dubai’ and will help to develop future UAE champions.
The first-of-its-kind partnership will see world champions and the PFL’s biggest stars compete in title fights as Dubai becomes a marquee destination for top MMA battles.
All other Champions Series events will now be co-branded as ‘Road to Dubai’, as each show culminates to the finale set in the new fight capital.
MMA fans were quick to the scene and reacted to the fight officially billed as ‘Dagestan vs Ireland 2’.
The circumstances scarily resemble those of McGregor vs Nurmagomedov in 2018, which was arguably the UFC’s biggest-ever fight.
A popular, ruthless, larger-than-life Irish fighter taking on an undefeated Dagestani champion – sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
One fan took to X and said: “Conor and Khabib in corners too please.”
While another added: “And Conor did say he would be in Paul Hughes’ corner for this. Imagine the scenes.”
A third PFL fan responded: “We want Conor and Khabib too.”
And a fourth said: “It’s official, we have Khabib vs. McGregor 2.”
McGregor and Nurmagomedov had arguably the most intense rivalry in MMA history.
The Irishman was infamously submitted by Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in October 2018.
The buildup to the fight was extremely personal and both camps got involved in a shocking brawl that erupted in the immediate aftermath of the lightweight title bout.
‘Big News’ Hughes became the first Irish fighter since McGregor to win featherweight gold under the Cage Warriors banner in November 2022.
He bounced back from breaking his right hand four times at the beginning of his career to win his first five professional MMA bouts, with his record now standing at 13 wins and one defeat.
Hughes overcame American AJ McKee on the main card of Francis Ngannou’s return to MMA against Renan Ferreira in October.
Ngannou was also successful at the PFL event in Saudi Arabia deemed the ‘Battle of the Giants’, as he knocked out Brazil’s Ferreira in the first round.
“People counted me out entirely,” Hughes told talkSPORT MMA exclusively.
“They said it was too much too soon, I was a huge underdog going in there and I said to everyone I’m going to knock him out, I’m going to beat this guy.
“It’s that same confidence I will bring with me towards Usman. I believe in my fighting instincts, I believe in my killer instincts, my fight IQ. I believe that I am the best guy in the planet.”
As for Nurmagomedov, the 26-year-old made his professional MMA debut in March 2017 and is yet to lose a single bout.
He has won all 18 of his professional fights, with eight of those victories coming by way of knockout and six by way of submission.
