Paul Hughes’ first championship opportunity in Professional Fighters League resulted in a near miss.
The Irish standout suffered a closely-contested majority decision defeat in a lightweight title bout against reigning champion Usman Nurmagomedov in the Road to Dubai headliner on Saturday at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In the immediate aftermath of the fight, Hughes gave his thoughts on the ruling and his overall performance.
“We all thought I won that one,” Hughes said in a video on Instagram. “I think the judges’ scorecards were pretty ridiculous.