Nurmagomedov vs. Hughes 2 had many discussing the judging and refereeing aspects of the contest in the aftermath, with a standout performer from that same PFL Dubai card weighing in.
Archie Colgan is the referenced mixed martial artist here, and Colgan defeated Jay Jay Wilson by way of a unanimous decision at PFL Dubai on October 3rd in a lightweight bout.
When touching on the Nurmagomedov vs. Hughes 2 fight, and how it seemed like there was a certain level of controversy surrounding the judges' scorecards. When asked if he has any thoughts on the Nurmagomedov vs. Hughes 2 scorecards at all, Colgan said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
Not really. I think that, you know, there was a scorecard that said 50-45, meaning that Paul Hughes didn't win any round."
"I don't see that one. I think he won. In my head, fresh when I was watching the fight right there in front of me, I thought it was like 4-1."
"Maybe you could do a 3-2. But I thought Usman won the fight. So yeah, but you know I think the controversy was in somebody saying it was 50-45, that he won no rounds."
"Yeah, I disagree with that as well. But I definitely don't agree with some of the people saying like it was a robbery."
"As in you know Usman should have lost. I was like ah no, I thought it was pretty decisive who was winning the fight. But how many rounds you give, like I don't know.
When touching on the instance in the championship clash, where it looked like Usman connected with a headbutt of sorts when a round had ended. Giving his thoughts on that sequence in the bout and commenting on his own curious situation with his appointed referee at PFL Dubai, Colgan stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
Yeah, I forgot about that. I forgot about that. That was; especially for to [have] no referee intervention between that and being like hey, you know, that was kind of a weird moment."
"But I mean that kind of happened all night too. Even in my fight, like me and my opponent kind of got like, in between rounds, second and third round, I think."
"Like staring at each other, and the ref shoved me. Like I stumbled backwards."
"I was like, "Hey, chill out, man." So, like, you know, he was on the other spectrum of that where he was doing too much, the other ref didn't do enough [laughs].
"It was just a cluster of emotion" with Nurmagomedov vs. Hughes 2, says Colgan
When touching on the different dynamics with assigned referees that can inform how differently his Wilson fight was handled versus how the other assigned ref handled Nurmagomedov vs. Hughes 2, Colgan quipped [via
Yeah, I agree. Yeah, I mean, that was a weird situation. I don't know if it was like; again, I'd have to watch it back and see it."
"Because especially if you're watching it live. It looked more of like a head-to-head. Like you guys are talking s**t to each other, and then like an extra push."
"But you know, I assume it was probably more of that than, like just a straight-up headbutt. But I don't know."
"I'd have to see that like on camera because even in person, it looked like it was just a cluster of emotion, really.