PFL Reveals Entire Road to Dubai Champions Series Card

I’m always amused by the marketing strategies people come up with to sell fights. When Paul Hughes and Usman Nurmagomedov fight on Jan. 25 at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, it should carry weight on its own as two young stars battling over the Bellator lightweight title.
When the Profesional Fighters League signed Hughes, it was viewed as a big coup. Hughes, a star fighter from Ireland, also had a flirtation with the UFC, according to MMAfighting latest news. When Hughes agreed to fight, the PFL promotion machine voted this as Dagestan vs. Ireland 2.
The angle for the fight is that Conor McGregor released a statement saying he was willing to walk out with Hughes. Usman was going to be accompanied to the cage by his cousin Khabib, who coaches him. McGregor and Khabib had a long rivalry and were part of one of the highest-selling events in MMA history.
Nurmagomedov is the current Bellator champion and has an 18-0 record. Hughes has won 13 of his 14 career fights and is a former Cage Warriors champion. This fight is one of the most exciting fights the promotion can offer.
It will be a worthy main event on a night that will feature interesting battles between fighters from Ireland and Dagestan. In the early prelims, there will be a number of regional fighters competing on the card.
Magomedsharipov Ready for Big Stage

Khasan Magomedsharipov has the bloodline for success in mixed martial arts. According to MMA breaking news, Magomedsharipov is the younger brother of former UFC fighter Zabit. Zabit was a fighter who many people thought had a chance to be a champion at featherweight.
However, Zabit was forced to retire after he had health issues and has been helping to coach his brother. Similar to his brother, Khasan is off to a strong start to his career. He has won the first 10 fights of his career.
Since coming into Bellator, Khasan has shown off a wide range of skills, picking up two wins by knockout, two by decision, and one by submission. His opponent on this card, Nathan Kelly, is another Irish standout.
Kelly has collected three straight victories under the Bellator banner, winning all three fights by stoppage. Kelly is 11-2 in his career.
Ibragimov Attempts to Protect Ninth Straight Win
Ibragim Ibragimov proved he was a good fit when he signed with the PFL. According to MMA news sites, Ibragimov has won both of his fights with the promotion so far. What made Ibragimov stand out was how he made his debut.
When Ibragimov fought in the PFL for the first time, he ended up submitting Josh Reed in 50 seconds. When Ibragimov had to go the distance during his next fight, he proved that he had the ability to go the full 15 minutes. For his next challenge, Ibragimov will have to fight Kenny Mokhonoana.
Mokhonoana is a fighter who prefers to do most of his work once he gets fighters to the ground. He has only had six professional fights but has already wrapped up four submissions. This should be a compelling matchup.
Renat Khavalov Brings the Dynamite

Many of the fighters from Dagestan are excellent grapplers. When a fighter comes in with a high level of wrestling, they tend to lean on that and not worry too much about striking. Renat Khavalov isn’t afraid to throw hands.
What makes Khavalov unique is that he has zero wins by submission during his career. He has a 7-0 record. Khavalov won’t have an Irish opponent. Cleiver Fernandes is a Brazilian fighter who has a 9-1 record. Fernandes has never knocked out an opponent during his career. When Fernandes ended fights before the judges got involved, he picked up five wins by submission.
While this fight doesn’t fit the theme of Russian vs. Irish fighters, it is still an intriguing matchup for a fighter from Dagestan to find himself in. He will have the opportunity to figure out if his power is enough to scare an established grappler from employing his attack.
This Event Was Rebooked
The merger of the PFL and Bellator has involved a lot of changed schedules and patience as the promotion figures out how it wants to move forward. This event, known as the Champion Serie 6 event, was supposed to be back in November at Adidas Arena in Paris.
However, the PFL called off the event without announcing a reason. Originally, the main event was supposed to be a bantamweight championship fight between Patchy Mix and Leandro Higo.
There were also talks of a trilogy fight between Corey Anderson and Vadim Nemkov taking place. However, Anderson pulled out of the fight after saying that he was too tough of a fight for Nemkov. It was ironic for Anderson to say this.
Nemkov won the first fight for the light heavyweight championship at Bellator 288. When the two men fought for the first time at Bellator 277, the fight was stopped for a no contest due to an accidental clash of heads.
Here are the other fights on the card not mentioned above:
Middleweight, Ahmed Sami vs. Tarek Suleiman
Flyweight, Ruel Pañales vs. Hadi Al Hussaini
Welterweight, Jarrah Al-Silawi vs. Yakub Sulimanov
Lightweight, John Mitchell vs. Souhil Tahiri
Featherweight, Assem Ghanem vs. Youssef Al Housani
Middleweight, Mostafa Rashed Nada vs. Haider Khan
Lightweight, Mirafzal Aktamov vs. Mike Thompson
Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.
By Dean McHugh.