Paul Hughes is not only calling out what will happen in his rematch with Usman Nurmagomedov, but also what will follow their championship rematch.
Hughes (14-2) and Nurmagomedov (19-0) are set to clash on Oct. 3 in the main event of PFL Champions Series Dubai. The two first fought in January in what turned out to be a close, competitive and fun championship fight. In the end, Nurmagomedov defended his PFL lightweight title and kept his undefeated record by winning a majority decision.
Hughes, who many though he had done enough to win the first bout, is confident he can get the job this time around.
“I’m going to break him,” Hughes told MMA Junkie Radio. “I will break him towards the end of this fight. Maybe I’ll clip him before that. You saw my last fight: a 34-second knockout. Of course, I have that capability. But what I truly really want to happen is break that man.”
Hughes expects there to be no delay for a trilogy fight should he get his hand raised in October. He wants to immediately do a third fight with Nurmagomedov and leave no doubt he’s the superior fighter.
“As soon as I win, I’m calling for the trilogy,” Hughes said. “You know that that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Come on, lads: I’m a competitor. There will be no questions asked. Once I get him out of there this time, it’s one each, and I need to make sure that I put it to bed once and for all. I’ll be calling for the trilogy.”
There’s still some ways until we see the Nurmagomedov-Hughes rematch. Some tension has built up between the two camps with some of the comments that followed their first meet. Hughes can’t promise it will be a friendly build-up, but at least from his part, he won’t be the first to throw a stone.
“I guess time will tell,” Hughes said. “I always approach it in a respectful way. That’s how I do business. But if someone comes at me, you best believe I’m coming back at them, and you’ve seen that with his management recently. There were some tweets that came back my way from his manager, and if you come at an Irishman with some insults, you best believe you’re going to hear something back. I’m always going to be respectful unless someone disrespects me.”
