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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Paul Hughes was ready for this.

Despite only a single fight since joining the PFL in free agency, the 27-year-old Irish prospect didn’t blink when he got the call to face former Bellator champion A.J. McKee in the opening bout on the upcoming pay-per-view card on Saturday from Saudi Arabia. Of course jumping in the deep end against a vastly experienced opponent might seem like too much, too soon, especially considering McKee has more career finishes (14) than Hughes has total fights (13).

But Hughes says getting the chance to face competition like McKee now rather than later is exactly why he signed with the PFL in the first place.

“This is exactly what I called for whenever I came into the PFL,” Hughes told MMA Fighting. “I said I want the most entertaining fights, the hardest fights and I want to put on shows for the fans. That’s exactly what’s going on here. I think I did a pretty good job in my debut. It was a pretty good scrap. Fans were happy enough and this one is just another step up.

“Now I’m kind of in that position where I’ve got the opportunity to fight one of the best in the world and prove what I have been saying for the last year — I’m one of the best fighters on the planet.”

Hughes doesn’t doubt that he’ll set foot in the cage as a sizable underdog and he understands that narrative given McKee’s history as one of the top fighters in Bellator for the past few years.

McKee has only tasted defeat once in his career and that was a close decision against Patricio Pitbull — an opponent he vanquished in less than two minutes during their first encounter. Since moving to lightweight, McKee is undefeated with a perfect 4-0 record including a lightning quick submission win over perennial PFL contender Clay Collard back in February.

“You put our records up against each other, you look at the experience AJ has against some of the best in the world for many, many years, on paper, I’m a huge, huge underdog coming into this fight,” Hughes acknowledged. “But look there’s a reason for the last 12 months I’ve been saying I’m one of the best in the world right now. I’ve mixed it up with some of the best guys in the world in training. I know my skill level. I know my capabilities. I know I’m a born competitor. You put me in there against anybody, I will win. I rise to the occasion.

“The proof that I have throughout my career, the higher pressure the fight, the bigger the occasion, the better that I perform. That’s just not me saying that’s what’s going to happen. I have proof of that happening. I’ve been there and done it. I’ve fought five round world title fights. I’ve performed every single time. Now it’s just the next step up. It’s a bigger stage but for me that means a better performance on my behalf.”

Getting McKee in just his second fight with PFL also further justified Hughes’ decision to pass on an offer from the UFC when he hit free agency earlier this year.

He laid out a multitude of reasons why he chose the PFL but money and opportunity sit at the top of that list and both are paying off with this fight.

“I knew deep down when I made the decision it was the right call,” Hughes explained. “I knew it was going to pay off for me. I didn’t quite expect it to pay off so quickly, in terms of how big the fights are, how big the events are but also how life changing the money is. I’m getting a bonus on top of my usual contract for this fight. Yes, I deserve it, I’m fighting one of the most dangerous fighters on the planet on a huge card. But my life has completely changed in the last six months. It’s incredible.

“It would take many, many years [in the UFC] to be able to get to the position that I am monetarily with the PFL. I knew it was going to be the right decision. It’s just paid off how I thought it would.”

Following his debut win in PFL in June, Hughes actually planned on calling out Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov, but the undefeated Russian already had a fight booked at that point.

There’s nothing stopping Hughes from asking for that fight if he gets through McKee on Saturday, which is another reason why he was so excited to get this offer.

“This is exactly how I envisioned it,” Hughes said. “It’s actually playing out. Sometimes you aim for the stars and you end up on the moon. This one, I’ve ended up in the stars. Exactly what I asked for has happened. When I signed with the PFL, my expectations have been exceeded and it’s an unbelievable time.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Alexander Volkanovski has specific criteria in mind for his next fight — he wants to return at UFC 312 in Australia and he wants gold on the line.

The former featherweight king hasn’t competed since he suffered a devastating knockout loss to Ilia Topuria back in February, which cost him the 145-pound title. With the UFC now returning to Australia on Feb. 9, Volkanovski makes it clear that he plans to fight on that card come hell or high water.

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure that I am on that card,” Volkanovski said during a local press conference announcing the event via Submission Radio. “I’ll be entertaining in Sydney in February, 100 percent.

“Whether it is for the title, an interim [title], lightweight title, I don’t care what it is. If for some reason I can’t get a fight, I’ll entertain on the DJ decks or something. I’ll find a way to do it.”

Ideally, Volkanovski would like to fight the winner of the UFC 308 main event where Topuria puts his featherweight title up for grabs against Max Holloway.

But the 36-year-old former champion acknowledges that there’s all sorts of potential obstacles that could prevent the winner from fighting in late October and then competing again three months later in early February.

He hopes either Topuria or Holloway stay healthy enough to fight again that soon but that’s also why Volkanovski has the idea about introducing an interim title in their absence.

“If there’s injuries or something, I think an interim could be that might fit,” Volkanovski said. “Max, if he was to win, he obviously has the ‘BMF’ belt as well so whether he moves up to lightweight, which would mean an interim. So we’ve had these conversations and I’m really going to push for that.

“I’m pretty sure they do both want quick turnarounds. You’ve got injuries that could get in the way, other divisions for Max. So that could mean maybe an interim title, which is fine. Anything with gold, I’ll be happy. That’ll just lock me in for whoever wins that anyways. So even if it’s interim, that’s still a big one.”

While nothing has been decided yet and probably won’t until after UFC 308 concludes, Volkanovski believes that top-ranked contender Diego Lopes is the most likely candidate for an opponent if Topuria or Holloway aren’t available.

Fresh off a win over Brian Ortega in September, Lopes is set to weigh-in as the backup fighter for the title bout in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 26. Volkanovski welcomes that challenge to ensure he gets to fight in Australia in February.

“I’d say it would be an exciting one with [Diego] Lopes if that was going to happen,” Volkanovski said. “If not, it’s Max or Ilia.”

As far as who he’s picking to win at UFC 308, Volkanovski has plenty of history with both men but right now he’s leaning towards a new champion being crowned in Holloway.

“I think he’s proven himself time and time again,” Volkanovski said about Holloway. “So it looks like I might have to do No. 4 with the guy so we’ll see what happens.

:I’d probably like to compete with Ilia, get that win back, to be quite honest but I was asked the question who do I think would win, I thought it probably would be Max. But whoever it is, they’ve got the belt so that’s exciting.”

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Undeterred
| BJPenn.com

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight champion Ilia Topuria vs. former Featherweight kingpin and Baddest Motherf—ker (BMF) Max Holloway is only eight days away (Sat., Oct. 26, 2024), and the fight, which goes down at UFC 308 inside Etihad Arena on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi, UAE, is heating up.

For the most part, Topuria has been saying he will knock Holloway out, just like he did Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 this year (watch it). However, today (Thurs. Oct. 17, 2024), the champion revealed that his grappling is better than his boxing and will submit “Blessed” if the fight goes to the floor.

“Imagine, in the fight, [Holloway] starts to run around inside the octagon, and he doesn’t stop to exchange punches with me and really fight,” Topuria told Kevin Iole. “I can take the decision to take him down whenever I want. As soon as I take that decision, I will submit him. As soon as he touches the ground, he will be submitted.

“Look, I don’t want to take credit from Max Holloway because he demonstrates that he is a very good fighter with a lot of experience. But at the same time, he’s never faced anyone like me. Never ever. The moment that I take him down – if that happens, if I don’t knock him out before, I don’t think he’ll be able to stop my submissions. Trust me, I’m very, very good on the ground. I think I’m better on the ground than I am in striking. The thing is, people have never seen my ground game because I haven’t needed it,” Topuria concluded.

“El Matador” is telling the truth about his ground game. It is very good, and he was considered a grappler long before he started knocking people dead. His first seven professional fights ended via submission (six in the first round). Topuria then fell in love with boxing, and now he prefers knocking people out.

Now, will he submit Holloway?

“Blessed” has only been submitted once in his 33-fight career, and that was to Dustin Poirier in his UFC debut at UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit in 2012.

The good thing about this dilemma is that everyone gets to find out in t-minus eight days.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Tom Aspinall may have pro wrestling in his future after making an appearance at a WWE show in Manchester, England this week.

The interim UFC heavyweight champion was introduced by WWE universal champion Cody Rhodes, and made his way to the ring to a rousing ovation from his home crowd. Check out the video below.

Shortly thereafter, WWE world champ Gunther — who faces Rhodes at WWE’s Crown Jewel on Nov. 2 — made his way out to the ring.

Gunther put over Aspinall’s accomplishments before asking for an all-champions photo with the Aspinall and Rhodes. Gunther then went on to wish Rhodes good luck in their matchup for Saudi Arabia and offered up a handshake.

Aspinall then asked them, ‘“Why wait until Crown Jewel, when we can do this right here, right now in Manchester?” The crowd was into it, but cooler heads ultimately prevailed.

After winning the interim belt with a quick knockout of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 this past November, Aspinall successfully defended the title in July with a first-round finish of Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in July. Aspinall will be the backup fighter for the upcoming UFC 309 heavyweight championship main event between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts