He may be a sizable underdog with the sportsbooks, but Paul Hughes is ready to prove himself right, and the doubters wrong, when he takes on Usman Nurmagomedov in Dubai on Saturday.
Hughes will challenge Nurmagomedov for the Bellator lightweight title at the PFL’s inaugural Road To Dubai Champions Series event.
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It’s the biggest fight of the 27-year-old’s career, but it’s one he says he’s battle-tested and ready to take on. And, chatting to UK radio station TalkSport ahead of his title tilt, Hughes said that he isn’t convinced the same can be said of his opponent.
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“I’m going to drag him into a fight,” he promised.
“I’m going to drag him into deep waters, places that he has never been before. People haven’t tested him enough, they haven’t fought him enough. They haven’t got him to these dark places enough. He’s never been there.
“He’s also never fought in front of a crowd that we’re going to bring here on Saturday night in Dubai. He’s never fought that high of a pressure fight. He’s never fought somebody that he’s had a personal beef with. He’ll never have experienced the walkouts that we’re going to bring.”
Hughes has forged his career in top European promotion Cage Warriors, where he rose from a 2-0 prospect to become the organization’s featherweight world champion.
That run of high-pressure fights in front of raucous crowds has given Hughes a level of experience he says will prove crucial when he faces Nurmagomedov at Coca-Cola Arena on Saturday.
“This is going to play many, many factors into my advantage,” he explained.
“Experience that I have already gained in the regional scene, like these Cage Warriors world title fights that I was having (were) unbelievably high pressure, way more high pressure than I feel now.
“I felt a lot more pressure for those fights. This feels like another day in the office. This feels like I’ve been here before.
“And I’ve always delivered. I’ve always come out on top. I’ve had to dig through hard adversities during fights. I’ve had to go to dark places to win fights….
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