Usman
Nurmagomedov vowed to make referee Kerry Hatley’s night at
PFL Road to Dubai a little easier.
Nurmagomedov (21-0) put his lightweight title on the line against
Davis in the main event at PFL Dubai on Saturday. The undefeated
Dagestani looked nearly flawless while putting Davis to sleep with
a reverse arm-triangle in the third round.
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Recent footage has surfaced of Nurmagomedov taking pre-fight
instructions from referee Hatley. Hatley was explaining that if
Nurmagomedov was in the bottom position and wanted to be stood up,
he had to stall the action. However, Nurmagomedov wasn’t very keen
on listening to the rest of the instructions as he was confident
that he would finish Davis.
A Man of His Word
“I’m gonna finish him,” Nurmagomedov said.
Hatley replied: “Yeah, good, make my job easy.”
However, Hatley did his duty by imparting the complete set of
instructions to Nurmagomedov. Nurmagomedov kept his promise by
finishing Davis to mark his second successful title defense.
Meanwhile, the loss marked the end of a three-fight winning streak
for Davis.
Usman
Nurmagomedov wasn’t having all of the ref’s instructions and
said, “I’m gonna finish him.” The ref replied, “Yeah, good – make
my job easy.” 😂(Via @akajav)
pic.twitter.com/IyRauGPXz4— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA)
February 8, 2026