Defeated Irish star Paul Hughes has slammed the judges as he deemed their scorecards as "pretty ridiculous" in the wake of his defeat against Usman Nurmagomedov.
The fighter from Lavey, County Derry, fell to a narrow majority decision loss in the PFL lightweight championship bout as at Dubai's Coca Cola Arena - with the judges scoring the fight 47-47, 48-46, 48-46. Vying to become the first Irishman to win a Bellator title, the 27-year-old had previously made his name winning the Cage Warriors featherweight championship.
However, Nurmagomedov - the cousin of UFC icon Khabib - got the better of "Big News" on a compelling evening, despite being deducted a single point in round 3 following repeated groin kicks. Now, Hughes has scorned the judges as he admitted that he felt he did enough to be crowned the victor.
Taking to Instagram, Hughes admitted that he felt he edged proceedings, saying: "We all thought I won that one. I think the judges’ scorecards were pretty ridiculous.
"But I’ll watch it back with a clear mind. I’m just judging from the energy of the arena and everyone surrounding the cage that thought it was mine. I’m not going to make excuses, though. I should’ve pushed harder. And I will the next time. I know we’ll fight again."
The Sydney-born colossus confessed that he felt a lengthy stoppage following a clash of heads with his opponent in Round 4 may have affected his performance. Claiming the pendulum swung in Nurmagomedov's direction at that point, he continued: "I felt like the stoppage in the fourth round with the head clash, changed the momentum of the fight.
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"I feel like I was breaking him. I was ripping him so hard to the body and I felt him wheezing. I knew my momentum was coming on and I would’ve emptied the tank, but that changed the flow and he got recovery. Which, look, the head butt was a head butt. It was accidental. He has all the right to take that recovery."
Ultimately, Hughes maintained that he did enough to win the fight, adding: "I’m obviously disappointed. I’m gutted. I’m proud of myself, but I need to get that back. I deserve to have that belt."
Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov spoke in glowing terms about his rival after defending his title, saying: "Paul Hughes, brother, you are the man, brother. You’re really the man. Brother, you are tough. Honestly, I underestimated this guy. Whew. It was my little mistake, but still undefeated, undisputed, Bellator lightweight champion, Usman Nurmagomedov.
"His wrestling defense, takedown defense [went] very well,” he added. “He’s tough, he’s strong. I didn’t think he would be this strong, brother. Brother, you are really strong [laughs]. You tell me in the face to face, this was my mistake, you were right, brother. Thank you so much."
He added: "I never take this damage, what I take with him in this fight. I have a lot of pain on my body. Brother, thank you for this fight. I think I jumped to next level because of him. He make me better than I was today. And I think, for sure, he got better, too. Thank you so much, Paul. I really respect you brother."