Usman Nurmagomedov Completes Dagestani Sweep at PFL ‘Road to Dubai’
When it came to Dagestan vs. Ireland, to paraphrase the great Tito Ortiz, there was never no rivalry.
The Professional Fighters League introduced itself to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates with a showcase event pitting competitors from Dagestan against their Irish counterparts. The Russians largely ran through their opposition, culminating with a Bellator MMA lightweight championship defense. Usman Nurmagomedov (19-0, 1 NC; 1-0 PFL) carried the weight of the defunct league on his shoulders, and he approached that challenge with a stoic intensity. In the face of the toughest test of his professional career, Nurmagomedov held on and secured the victory by majority verdict.
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The champ and Paul Hughes (13-2, 1-1 PFL) chewed up the lead legs of one another with kicks in the opening round when not connecting with a groin shot on either side. As Hughes overcommitted on strikes in the second period, Nurmagomedov nearly scooped him off his feet, but the former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder rebuffed his first takedown effort. While multiple successive shots came from various angles, Hughes remained upright and hurled heavy counters at the huge betting favorite. The two enjoyed one another’s company in close, exciting exchanges on the feet, grinning and celebrating their handiwork.
As the fight waged on, Hughes found himself trying to win a battle of attrition. The Irishman took it to the champion, attacking with volume, ferocity and an exhausting pace. Nurmagomedov matched him every step of the way, only for two more of his kicks to land below the belt. After the third overall groin strike landed by the beltholder, referee Mike Beltran was forced to deduct a point for the fouls. This lit a fire in the belly of the unbeaten man, who immediately chained wrestling attempts together and found success he had not seen thus far. Hughes bounced back and gained confidence in his hands and feet, working the body and chopping down the calf of his adversary to place momentum on his side entering the championship frames.
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The challenger picked his shots in Round 4 rather than going for broke, chasing Nurmagomedov around the cage while the Russian potshotted him with jabs and calf kicks. As Nurmagomedov showed signs of fatigue in the face of Hughes’ power strikes, the two lunged towards one another at the same time and clacked their domes together to slash open Hughes’ forehead while a compromised Nurmagomedov stumbled away. Witnessing the damage sustained by their head clash, Hughes stood in his corner for minutes wearing a wry grin, staring down a recovering Nurmagomedov. Still wide-eyed and shaken up after taking ample time to get his bearings, Nurmagomedov hit his safety valve of wrestling and planted Hughes on his back for the remainder of the stanza.
Picking up where he left off, Nurmagomedov engaged in heavy grappling to nullify the accurate striker in the final frame. Hughes never found himself stuck in the bad side of a dominant position, but control time added up fast in the Russian’s corner. Hughes gained a full head of steam and ripped into Nurmagomedov, battering the body and shucking off desperate attempts to put him on the canvas one more time to seal the fight. The duelists concluded their sensational battle slugging it out right to the buzzer, leaving everything in the hands of the judges. One scored it a draw due to the point deduction, while the other two issued 48-46 scores in favor of the defending champion.
Nurmagomedov may have claimed the majority decision and kept his flawless record intact, but Hughes might have been the biggest winner of the evening by putting himself on the map with his stellar performance. A rematch somewhere down the line would be ideal for both combatants and the fans as well.
Dominant performance from Vadim Nemkov at Heavyweight!#RoadToDubai | LIVE NOW
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Vadim Nemkov (18-2, 1 NC; 2-0 PFL) made it look easy against powerful brawler Tim Johnson (18-11, 1-2 PFL), tapping out the North Dakotan a little after three minutes into the first round. From the outset, Nemkov busted open a cut on the top of Johnson’s head with a sharp kick, sending a message he was not here to play. Although Johnson tanked a few additional powerful blows, his choice to storm towards the Russian worked against him as Nemkov retaliated with smooth, efficient grappling. After wrestling Johnson to the mat, Nemkov climbed onto Johnson’s back and snared the rear-naked choke, flattening the grizzled vet out and forcing him to say “Matte” at 3:08 into the heavyweight contest.
Nemkov’s campaign back up at heavyweight took another step forward with the one-sided victory, and with his PFL contract completed, a move elsewhere may loom for the 32-year-old ex-champ.
Akhmed Magomedov snaps Kelly's win streak with the finish!#RoadToDubai | LIVE NOW
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Akhmed Magomedov (10-1, 1 NC; 1-0 PFL) overcame serious adversity when taking on Nathan Kelly (11-3, 4-1 PFL) in their Dagestan-Ireland featherweight clash. The once-beaten fighter took damage early and had his eyebrow shredded with a nasty cut, but once he got his gears turning, the fight quickly shifted in his favor. Kelly stuffed early takedowns, but ultimately could not keep Magomedov at bay and found himself in grappling exchanges he did not enjoy. During a scramble, Kelly attempted to escape, only to give up his back and succumb to a rear-naked choke.
The tap came at 4:22 of the second stanza, with Magomedov putting an end to Kelly’s 11-fight win streak while bouncing back from his first career defeat in a big way.
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The failed weight cut was not the worst thing that Kenny Mokhonoana (5-2, 0-1 PFL) had to endure this weekend, as Ibragim Ibragimov (9-0, 3-0 PFL) ragdolled him across three grueling rounds. The Dagestani never gave Mokhonoana a moment to breathe, repeatedly grounding and hitting mat returns to keep the underdog trapped on the canvas for the majority of their three-round endeavor. Not only did Mokhonoana surrender a percentage of his purse by missing the featherweight limit by a pound, but he was also suplexed on his head and sent flying courtesy of a spinning wheel kick during the otherwise workmanlike effort from the unbeaten Ibragimov.
When the final bell sounded, the only question was whether a 10-8 might come into play. Judges balked at that, instead issuing three 30-27s in favor of the overwhelming -2500 betting favorite Ibragimov.
Renat Khavalov (9-0, 1-0 PFL) opened up the main card with a grindingly effective performance against Brazilian submission specialist Cleiver Fernandes (9-2, 0-1 PFL). Although Fernandes had success on the feet a few times, even rocking the Dagestan native on more than one occasion, Khavalov otherwise kept things close in the clinch when not hunting for takedowns. The bantamweights reached the final bell with the appearance that they could go two more rounds, but judges had to weigh in and unanimously gave the nod to Khavalov.
With a score of 30-27 and a pair of 29-28s on his side, Khavalov improved his unbeaten record to nine up and zero down.
In their unplanned 200-pound catchweight contest, Ahmed Sami (12-4, 1 NC; 1-0 PFL) wrapped up the prelims by battering Tarek Suleiman (13-9, 1 NC; 0-1 PFL) so mercilessly that the Syrian could not return to his stool at the conclusion of the first round; Mirafzal Akhtamov (9-0-1, 1-0 PFL) smothered Mike Thompson (7-3, 0-1 PFL) with a consciousness-depriving arm-triangle choke, putting the British 155er to sleep at 2:50 of Round 2; Hadi Omar Al Hussaini (6-1-1, 1-1 PFL) outlasted fellow flyweight Ruel Panales (6-3, 1 NC; 0-1 PFL) and received two 30-27s and one 29-28 all in his favor; John Mitchell (10-2, 3-1 PFL) got Ireland on the board early with an exhausting win on the scorecards over Souhil Tahiri (7-6-1, 1-2 PFL), with the lightweight earning a trio of 30-27 tallies; middleweight Haider Khan (9-1, 1-0 PFL) shattered Mostafa Rashed Nada’s (9-4, 2-1 PFL) left arm with a front kick to force the injury stoppage at 3:18 of the opening frame; the night began with Talal AlQallaf (3-0, 1-0 PFL) picking up a grapple-heavy decision over fellow amateur lightweight Saeed AlHosani (4-3, 0-1 PFL) with scores of 29-27, 29-28 and 30-27.
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