'If I connect, I can knock anybody out!' - Paul Hughes ready for Usman Nurmagomedov rematch

Paul Hughes believes that he can claim revenge against Usman Nurmagomedov at the PFL Champions Series, with the Northern Irishman confident he can get a knockout.

The star lost a majority decision in January this year, but returns to Dubai bent on settling the score after he needed just forty-two seconds to stop Bruno Miranda in May.

Now, the Sydney-born star will get his second chance - and in an interview with DAZN News, revealed he is more determined than ever to become a MMA lightweight champion.

How many times have you watched the first fight?

I've lost count of how many times I watched that part.

What did you think of your performance?

I think it was a good performance. I think I proved a lot of people - and a lot of doubters - wrong, but ultimately I did not get my hand raised, so I must do that.

What did you think of Usman's performance?

I think he is one of the best fighters in the world. So yeah, great performance. I think he's very tricky, very elusive, very invasive, and I must learn a lot from the first fight.

You're the first to have the chance for a rematch, something Brent Primus and Alexandr Shabliy did not. Why do you deserve this opportunity?

Obviously, the MMA world was split as to who won that fight. So the fans wanted to see a rematch. The fans got what they wanted.

You're coming off a resounding victory at home in less than a minute against Bruno Miranda. Did that reinforce your idea of finishing him off?

Look, if I connect, I can knock anybody out, as you've seen from my last fight. Usman is incredibly hard to hit and to pin down.

Of course, at any point I can clip him, but I'm also more prepared to do five rounds and to outpoint him over five rounds.

How did the face-to-face go this time?

It was fine. Respectful. We have had to do many face-offs, so it's nothing new.

Does he now give you the respect you deserve?

I didn't care in the first place if he gave me respect or not. I don't care. It doesn't bother me what his thoughts or feelings are about myself or this fight.

I don't care. I'm just focused on my own game.

Do you have the power to finish him by submission or knockout?

I believe that I can clip him at any point. You've seen that throughout my career. I obviously can knock people out. Submission, maybe, perhaps.

But look, as I said to you, my focus has been to outpoint him over five rounds and make sure that I win each round.

I have developed a game plan in order to make sure that I win each time, because what I did the last time was I gave him too many small moments that built up.

Yes, I had a lot of big moments myself, and a lot of people were like, "Paul won that fight, no question."

But he had a lot of small moments. So I need to make sure that I have more small moments throughout this entire fight.

Usman said he was ready to die in the octagon and that this time would be different. What can we expect?

Fighters say this phrase quite often about being willing to die in there, but it doesn't mean much to me because I feel like if you're doing this right, you're always prepared to die in there.

No fight makes any difference. If it's a sparring day and someone's really trying to get me, then I'm prepared to die.

That's what a competitor does. So yeah, it doesn't mean that much hearing him say that.

You will be among two Irish fighters on the main card, alongside Caolan Loughran. How far do you see him going?

It's a really interesting fight because Jack Cartwright is a really dangerous opponent, and it may actually be trickier than Caolan's first opponent, Lewis McGrillen.

But it's a very intriguing matchup. It's a hell of a fight for this main card. I'm obviously friends with Caolan. We come from the same area, so that's very exciting for me,

It's a nice thing to be able to share this. Although we're not on the same team, we come from the same area, so it's great to have him there and to be able to share this with him.

If you win that fight, you would then want a trilogy. But who would be the lightweight fighter most likely to get a title shot?

I think at this point, Alfie deserves the next shot because of who he just beat for the belt. So I think that he definitely deserves the next shot.

What is your top five lightweight fighters across all organizations?

Myself, Usman, definitely there. You've got to put Topuria there. You've got to put Holloway there. Yeah, they're the first four that came to mind, so I'll stick with the four.

No Islam Makhachev?

Can you call him a lightweight now that he's moved up? Yes. Maybe. I mean, yeah. But if not, then you can definitely include him there.