“Show the World”: Khabib Nurmagomedov Honors Usman’s Successful Title Defense with Heartfelt Message

Following Usman Nurmagomedov’s hard-fought title defense against Paul Hughes, Khabib Nurmagomedov took to Instagram to honor his cousin’s resilience and success. Khabib believes that Usman’s journey in the sport had just begun and there was a lot of mixed martial arts left in him.

The PFL (Bellator) lightweight champion had promised to win the bout for his brother Umar and his team after a shocking setback for the family at UFC 311. And he delivered in spectacular fashion. Despite being pushed to the limit by Hughes, Usman held his own and scratched and clawed his way to another title defense.

Khabib’s message reflected the pride and respect he holds for Usman’s journey.

“Congratulations Brother @usman_nurmagomedov on another successful title defense. You have done a great job in the big arena over the past couple of years…You’re going to show the world a lot of mixed martial arts.”

 

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A post shared by Хабиб Нурмагомедов (@khabib_nurmagomedov)

With this victory, Usman has completed four successful lightweight title defenses at Bellator. However, his opponent of the night is not done with him yet.

Hughes calls for a rematch against Usman

Hughes arguably gave Usman the fight of his life. His striking, power, and takedown defense, made the champion rethink his tactics mid-fight. To be able to force a dominant champion into doing that, especially during your first shot at the title, is an incredible achievement in itself.

Even Usman, visibly as impressed as he was broken, told Hughes that he was wrong to have underestimated him.

“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…”

However, it is no consolation for Hughes. The Irishman, heartbroken during his post-fight interview, expressed disappointment at missing his chance to claim the title.

Asserting his belief that he had done enough to claw a win out of the dogfight, Hughes claimed that Usman was going to face him again.

“I’m so gutted, I’m so disappointed. I really thought I won that one. I should have pushed harder. Next time, I know we’re going to fight again, there’s no question…I need to give everything next time, and I will.”

“We are going to fight again” @paulhughesmma made everyone a fan tonight inside the SmartCage #RoadToDubai pic.twitter.com/h7EXGHwS4D

— PFL (@PFLMMA) January 25, 2025

Decision wins, especially for fierce fights like these, are never going to please everyone. So, the best way to resolve this would be to let the two duke it out again in the future and hope for a finish.