The build up to the PFL’s upcoming Road to Dubai Champions Series event on January 25th received a huge boost last week when former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who’s cousin and student Usman Nurmagomedov will face Ireland’s Paul Hughes in the main event, launched a verbal attack on the general quality of Irish MMA fighters over the years.
Nurmagomedov’s input has done wonders for the event from a marketing perspective, with the promotion leaning heavily into the “Ireland vs. Dagestan” narrative given that three of the five main card fights will be contested between natives of both nations.