Paul Hughes brands judges' scorecards 'ridiculous' after loss to Usman Nurmagomedov at PFL: Road To Dubai

Ireland's Paul Hughes headed into his bout with Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov at PFL: Road To Dubai as a huge underdog, but he nearly upset the odds with a brilliant performance that saw him push the undefeated Russian champion to the limit.

However, despite delivering a star-making performance in Dubai, Hughes was left disappointed after the three judges at cageside scored the fight 47-47, 48-46, 48-46 to hand Nurmagomedov a majority decision win and deprive the Irishman the win he felt he deserved.

RELATED: Conor McGregor takes aim at entire Nurmagomedov family with social media salvo

And, after heading backstage following the fight, Hughes grabbed his phone and recorded a video message for his fans as he shared his view on the bout, and his take on the scorecards.

"Look, as always, I'm gonna have to watch it back to get a good assessment, a clear-minded assessment. But, as we know, we all thought I won that one," he said.

"I think the judges' scorecards were pretty ridiculous. But, as I say, I'll watch it back with a clear mind.

"I'm just judging from the energy of the arena and everyone surrounding the cage. I thought it was mine.

"I'm not going to make excuses, though. I should have pushed harder. And I will the next time. I know we'll fight again."

Nurmagomedov started the faster of the pair, but Hughes grew into the fight and, by the fourth round, appeared to be the fighter in the ascendancy.

An accidental clash of heads forced a temporary pause of the action, with Nurmagomedov making full use of the injury timeout to recover.

That timeout also helped Nurmagomedov replenish his drained gas tank, and Hughes said that moment was pivotal to the outcome of the contest.

"It felt like the stoppage in the fourth round with the head clash changed the momentum of the fight," he explained.

"I feel like I was breaking him. I was ripping him so hard to the body, and I felt him wheezing, and I knew my momentum was coming up and I would have emptied the tank.

"But that changed the kind of the flow, and he got good recovery. Which, look, the headbutt was a headbutt – it was accidental. He has all the right to take that recovery."

Now the Belfast native wants to face Nurmagomdov again in a world title rematch, with the manner of his loss in Dubai only strengthening his opinion that he's worthy of the lightweight title.

"I'm obviously disappointed. I'm gutted, I really am," he said.

"I'm proud of myself, but I need to get that back. I deserve to have that belt, soon."

MORE TOP STORIES from The Big Lead
NFL: Conference championship: previews…
NFL: …and TV announcers
CFB: Ranking next season’s top QBs
NBA/SPORTS MEDIA: Shaq and Chuck argue about Jimmy Butler