Paul Hughes plans to rid PFL of Usman Nurmagomedov after street fight offer
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Paul Hughes believes that Usman Nurmagomedov is beginning to go too far in the lead-up to their PFL lightweight title fight on Saturday night.
The Irishman is the more renowned talker of the two, but Nurmagomedov has been making himself known with a series of actions that are winding up his rival. Last week, he skipped out on a local media day where the pair were due to face of at TKMMA in Dubai.
And during their fight week face-off at the Burj Khalifa this week, the PFL champion declared that he would be willing to fight Hughes on the street instead of waiting for Saturday. This is all leading to a more heated feud than usual as the Irishman looks to land an historic victory for his country this weekend.
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Usman Nurmagomedov called for street fight with Paul Hughes during face-off
During their launch face-off for fight week, Usman Nurmagomedov told Paul Hughes that he would be willing to fight him there and then if that were possible. The Irishman laughed off the idea, declaring that they would have plenty of time to fight on Saturday night over five rounds.
Speaking with Bloody Elbow in an exclusive chat, Nurmagomedov explained: “It’s not personal but we are just promoting this fight. He tried to speak about ‘a few days’ or something like that and I said ‘if you want we can do every day’.
“Even there, when we were facing off, I wanted it. He began saying like ‘Saturday, we’ll see’ or something like that. But where I come from if someone calls you to fight, you don’t wait for four days. If he said ‘let’s go’ I would smash his face there.”
Paul Hughes vows to rid PFL of Usman Nurmagomedov after title fight
Hughes has clearly been aggravated by Nurmagomedov’s aggressive tactics, feeling that a call for a street fight goes beyond the bounds of promoting a bout that would take place in the cage. And he is generally sick of his rival’s behavior throughout the build-up.
“To me he just seems kind of shook up. I’m there being my always quietly calm self and he basically offered me up we can go here, like let’s do it and I mean, what the f*** is he talking about? I mean, that’s clearly to me an emotional irrational response.
“And, you know, as I said to him, ‘you’re looking past me’ and he says, ‘who are you?’ I said, ‘Exactly’. And that is his problem, and that is going to be the test for him in my eyes on Saturday night.”
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