The ‘Pride of Dagestan’ will soon take on Paul Hughes in the Champions Series World Title event at Coca-Cola Arena.
Abu Dhabi may be on track to overtake Las Vegas as the fight capital of the world, but MMA is coming to Dubai in a major way. The city’s very first Champions Series World Title event will be held on Saturday, 25 January at Coca-Cola Arena and headlined by the undefeated Bellator Lightweight World Champion, Usman Nurmagomedov (18-0).
Also known as the ‘Pride of Dagestan’, he will take on rising Irish contender Paul Hughes (13-1), who is coming off the biggest victory of his MMA career at PFL Battle of the Giants after defeating AJ McKee. The upcoming showdown follows the signing of a groundbreaking multi-year partnership between the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), Dubai Sports Council (DSC), and the Professional Fighters League (PFL).
The first-of-its-kind partnership will see MMA world champions and the sport’s biggest stars from the PFL compete in title fights as Dubai becomes a marquee destination for the best of MMA. As part of the league’s commitment to developing the sport of MMA in Dubai, rising Emirati star fighters such as Youssef Al Housani will now have a pathway to become future PFL Champions.
PFL, incidentally, is the only organisation in MMA with a sports-season format, where individual fighters compete in a regular season, playoffs, and championship each year. Starting at AED 195, tickets to the inaugural Road to Dubai event are now available via Platinumlist.
DSCVR: Road to Dubai Champions Series. Coca-Cola Arena, City Walk, Dubai. @cocacolaarena
