VICIOUS GROUND AND POUND! 🔥
Paul Hughes stops Bobby King via second round TKO in his Bellator
debut! 🇮🇪#BellatorDublin
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🌍 https://t.co/Dpuq4Xv6Jh
pic.twitter.com/B2BbCtlGPZ— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA)
June 22, 2024
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Paul Hughes
has a bold prediction for Ian Garry’s
upcoming
UFC fight.
Garry will trade leather with former Bellator
MMA superstar Michael
Page at UFC 303
on June 29 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Page, who has built
a career off of highlight-reel finishes, expects to outclass Garry
on the feet. While it is almost a pick ‘em matchup, Hughes predicts
an easy night at the office for his friend and fellow
countryman.
“I think it’s a very tough fight, but I honestly think that Ian’s
gonna make it look easy,” Hughes said at the Bellator Dublin
post-fight press conference. “I think he’s
gonna make it look easy against MVP. I think he’s gonna chop him
down low, and I think Ian’s obviously very fast. I think I can see
Ian get him out of there to be honest, like Ian’s on another level.
Us Irish, we do it differently. And I’m a huge fan of MVP, I think
he’s incredible. But I think it’s gonna be another moment where Ian
does the business and everyone else just sits back and goes, ‘Oh
goddamn, he’s so good.’ So, shout out to Ian.”
Garry is currently undefeated in seven UFC outings and fresh off a
unanimous decision win over Geoff Neal.
Meanwhile, “MVP” scored a flashy unanimous decision win over
Kevin
Holland in his promotional debut at UFC 299 in March.
Meanwhile, Hughes scored a brutal second-round TKO win over
Bobby
King in front of a home crowd in Dublin in his Bellator — which
is now owned by
Professional Fighters League — debut on Saturday. While Hughes
is looking forward to entering the PFL regular season, the former
Cage Warriors champ also wants to headline a card in his
hometown of Belfast.
“A millie is on my mind but also what’s on my mind, something I
need to do before my career’s over, is fight in Belfast,” Hughes
said. “I have to fight in Belfast. That’s why I mentioned it there
tonight. If you thought that was fun in Dublin, just wait til you
see what I would bring to Belfast, because of course, that’s where
I fight out of. That’s the beauty of the PFL acquiring Bellator and
having obviously the PFL season, the Bellator Champions Series, the
PFL Europe — there’s a lot on offer and it’s an absolute privilege
to be part of this promotion.”
Hughes announced his free agency after completeing his Cage
Warriors contract with a first-round TKO win over Fabiano
Silva in April. While Hughes was courted by a number of major
promotions, the PFL secured the signing just weeks later. Hughes
recently reiterated that the offer from “another” promotion was
nowhere close to that of the PFL. Hughes also explained that it
wasn’t the monetary part of the contract that made him choose the
PFL over its competition. Hughes notes that it’s unlikely that he
would get the opportunity to headline a card in front of a home
crowd this early in any other promotion.
“It wasn’t even close [to signing withthe UFC]. Because the PFL
showed their interest in me eight months ago at this point,” Hughes
said. “And they told me, ‘We want you.’ Whenever I became a free
agent, they were just like, ‘We need you.’ And they made me an
offer that I couldn’t refuse. It’s not just a monetary thing.
People think it is, it really isn’t. Would I have got to headline
in Dublin if I was in another promotion, right away? Would I be
able to potentially have some sway in the promotion, potentially
headline in Belfast? No. So, these are the things that I want and
the PFL are just giving me so much opportunity. And the longer I’ve
been here the more chuffed I am with my decision.”