Ireland’s Paul Hughes has got his wish.

Former Cage Warriors Hughes enhanced his reputation as one of the top prospects in all of mixed martial arts last month when he became just the second man to defeat AJ McKee as part of the PFL’s Blockbuster ‘Battle of the Giants’ card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on October 19.

Following that win, ‘Big News’ made clear that he wanted his next move to be a title shot against the Bellator 155-pound champion Usman Nurmagomedov — and it was confirmed on Wednesday that the fight will take place in Dubai on January 25 next.

The fight will be Hughes’ second under the PFL/Bellator banner after he signed a big-money deal to represent the organisation after turning down contract offers from the UFC and elsewhere.

𝗗𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡 𝗩𝗦. 𝗜𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝟮!

👑🇷🇺 Usman Nurmagomedov 🆚 Paul Hughes 🇮🇪

Undefeated Bellator Lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov will look to defend his belt for the third time on January 25th when he takes on Ireland’s top contender Paul Hughes.

Paul Hughes… pic.twitter.com/b3MiBufNYw

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) November 20, 2024

Speaking to TheMacLife in September ahead of his fight with McKee, Hughes said fights of this magnitude are the reason he signed on the dotted line to join the likes of Francis Ngannou as a new addition to the PFL roster.

“[Nurmagomedov’s] fight [against Alexandr Shabily] was terrible. It was boring, I fell asleep,” Hughes said. “That’s how I feel about that. In terms of him saying AJ’s gonna beat me? Not a chance, it’s not happening. They’ve obviously a bit of history there and they’re trying to tee that up but I’m here to spoil the party, I’m here to shock the world and I’m here to take those opportunities.”