Fight Breakdown: Nurmagomedov v Hughes

PFL Road to Dubai kicks off on Saturday, January 25th from the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai at 8 am Pacific/11 am Eastern. Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes will headline the event as Nurmagomedov will defend his lightweight belt and his highly coveted goose egg in the L column. Both fighters have incredible records, and we’re expecting a very competitive fight. Let’s take a deeper dive into each fighter’s keys to success

Usman Nurmagomedov boasts an impressive 18-0 record. At only 26 years old, he has a long career ahead of him. Like the others who share his surname, Usman has very dominant grappling, and we expect him to take full advantage of the skills he’s developed on the ground. Usman is far from a pure wrestler though. He has the hands to stand and bang with the best in the world. Usman’s keys to success here will be to wear out Hughes on the feet, work the body effectively, and keep Hughes against the cage. From there, Usman will set himself up to get Hughes to the ground and secure a submission as he’s done many times before. Usman frequently utilizes a similar game plan, and we expect his approach to Hughes will be no different. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

Paul Hughes also has a very competitive record at 13-1. The challenger has a very exciting bite-down-on-the-mouthpiece striking style that should be a great matchup against Usman. Hughes is a very well-rounded fighter, so we expect him to be able to hold his own on the ground if that’s where the fight ends up. If Hughes can apply smart and effective pressure, keep Usman on his heels, and let the Muay Thai flow, Usman will certainly have his hands full. That’s the route we expect Hughes to take for this matchup

Prediction: Nurmagomedov by submission

Fights of the Week: Jan 20, 2025

Happy Monday fight fans! I hope you all enjoyed UFC 311 because I know I did. We have 3 big events this week and a handful of matchups that I know I’ll be tuning in for. We’ll get to see some top athletes compete in a variety of rule sets as well. Let’s look at what’s in store

ONE Championship 170 starts at 9:30 pm Pacific on Thursday, 1/23; 12:30 am Eastern on Friday 1/24 at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand

Tawanchai PK Saenchai v Superbon: Superbon will attempt to claim another featherweight belt this Thursday (or Friday depending on where you’re located) as the kickboxing world champion will be fighting Tawanchai PK Saenchai for the featherweight muay thai belt. Both of these men have stellar resumes, and I’m excited to see how this one plays out.

PFL Road to Dubai Championship Series starts at 7:30 am Pacific/10:30 am Eastern on Saturday, January 25 at the Coca-Cola Arean in Dubai, UAE

Nurmagomedov v Hughes: We’ll get to see the 3rd title fight featuring a Dagestani in 2 weeks when Usman Nurmagomedov, younger brother to Umar and cousin of Khabib, defends his lightweight belt against contender Paul Hughes.

BKFC Knucklemania V starts at 5:00 pm Pacific/8:00 pm Eastern on Saturday, January 25 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philidelphia, Pennsylvania

Alvarez v Stephens: Eddie Alvarez and Jeremy Stephens both had electric careers in the UFC. This Saturday, we’ll get to see these 2 try to climb the ranks for a shot at the welterweight bare-knuckle belt

Be sure to follow us on X to make sure you don’t miss breakdowns of these matchups and predictions for the 3 cards

UFC 311 Pick Analysis

The UFC has once again hosted an amazing night of fights. We like to keep it interesting here at Striking Central. Let’s take a dive on how we did.

Let’s start with the first prediction of the evening: Talbott v Barcelos. Going into the fight, I thought Payton Talbott was automatic. This guy had so much hype, and I thought he was a lock because he’s been on a 9-fight win streak. He certainly has hands, but his takedown defense is horrible, and that cost him the fight. I believe he’ll be back, but I missed the mark here

Holland v RDR: I predicted Holland would win this fight by KO. A couple of things here that we should unpack. First and foremost, I was unfamiliar with RDR’s game. I saw one of his One Championship fights, and I was not impressed, so I went with Holland. Secondly, I don’t think Kevin Holland’s mindset going into this fight was what it should have been. I haven’t listened to it, so I could be wrong, but I read on X that Holland said he didn’t care about this fight on Rampage’s podcast. True or not, the rumor is enough for me to put this guy on the blacklist. GG RDR

Almeida v Spivak: Almeida has some heavy hands. I thought he’d get it done by submission, but he elected for ground and pound. On to the next

Prochazka v Hill: Jiri put on a clinic last night. His striking looked sharp, and he was reading Jamahal like a book. I don’t think anyone is surprised he took that one. Jiri by KO proved to be easy money

Dvalishvili v Nurmagomedov: I had Umar by KO going into this one, and for the first 3 rounds, I really thought he was going to get it done. Umar has some of the cleanest hands in the promotion, and he was letting Merab have it. Then Umar broke his hand, and Merab slowly started to break him. All I have to say is EPO is a hell of a drug, and I am very confident we’ll see these 2 fight again

Makhachev v Moicano: Did anyone really see this one going any other way? Islam by submission = money in the bank

All in all, we were 3-3 on picking winners tonight, and 2-4 on methods. Check out the “Picks” tab for a spreadsheet showing the success rate of my picks, and be sure to follow us on X to get picks for this week’s upcoming fights and Adesanya vs Imavov on Feb 1