Usman Nurmagomedov defended his Bellator belt for the third time

Russian mixed martial arts fighter Usman Nurmagomedov defeated Irish fighter Paul Hughes at the PFL tournament in Dubai.

The confrontation lasted until the fifth round, in which the Russian won with the score 47:47, 48:46 and 48:46, which made him the owner of the Bellator belt for the third time. And the fighter scored his first victory on March 26, 2017 in Moscow at the tournament of the Moscow Pankration Federation promotion.

"Usman Nurmagomedov held 18 fights in MMA and won each of them. In September 2024 he defeated Alexander Shablia at the Bellator Champions Series 4 tournament and defended the title of champion", - writes "Sport-Express".

"If I'm going to be a champion, it's one that doesn't need to be protected."

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Earlier "Izvestia told about the upcoming tournament, the main confrontation of which was the fight between Nurmagomedov and Hughes. The fight was announced with the sign "Dagestan vs. Ireland, part 2", as if reminding of one of the greatest fights in the history of MMA between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor.

On January 19, Russian Islam Makhachevdefeated Brazilian opponent Renato Moicano to defend his UFC lightweighttitle. The fight took place at UFC 311 in Los Angeles