Lightweight has long been a marquee division in MMA. Legends like BJ Penn, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and many more have produced viral violence for decades. And it’s not just a UFC thing.
Dream’s lightweight Grand Prix with Shinya Aoki, Joachim Hansen, and Eddie Alvarez remains the number 1 event series I recommend to new MMA fans. PRIDE promoted one of the most iconic single fighters ever between Takanori Gomi and Nick Diaz has. And do I really need to say anything about Anthony Pettis jumping off the cage?
Usman Nurmagomedov and Paul Hughes first met after the PFL and Bellator merged. They’ve since had a rematch and both fights are some of the most closely contest MMA you’ll ever see.
This article discusses the dynamics of both fights as well as the adaptations both men made between the contests.
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Striking In And Out Of Takedowns
Usman and Hughes’s series started slow. Cautious even. Usman is the better wrestler but he committed to circling and slapping with kicks like he has become known for.
They have opposite stances. They circle and trade leg kicks. Usman throws a left kick to the body and then the leg. He puts his left leg down in front to switch his stance. The sequence ends with Usman jabbing from his now orthodox stance.
Hughes was looking to counter Usman’s kicks with hard hooks and uppercuts.
Usman throws an inside leg kick. Hughes responds with a right and a left hook. Usman charges into a clinch. Hughes’s gets an under hook and moves his hips away to stay up while Usman tries to trip him. Hughes drives his head into Usman’s chin so he has room to punch and put Usman on the cage.
When Hughes was diligent about staying tight with his hands and elbows, and feet far away, Usman could not get anything going beyond single kicks and punches. Plus, Hughes’s strikes seemed to impact more than Usman’s did. But then Hughes ran into a real problem.
Hughes started committing to throwing hard shots. He began swinging wider to try to hurt Usman. That gave Usman the room he needed to get his hips in.
Hughes lifts a knee and starts swinging. Usman changes his level, runs through a double, and puts Hughes on the fence. Usman trips Hughes with a kosoto hook. Hughes pops up. Usman mat returns him. Hughes gets up. Usman runs Hughes back to the mat. Hughes turtles. Usman gets a front head lock. Hughes gets back to his feet.
This was a great scramble on both accounts but Usman was clearly pushing the pace of the exchange and inching away from Hughes on the judges scorecards.
Hughes correct his swinging issues by adding harder straight punches for the second fight. His powerful jabs helped him maintain distance, keep hold of the initiative, and stay on standing longer.
Hughes is stalking. Usman shoots under Hughes’s punch and swings to a rear body lock. Hughes opens Usman’s hands to step out. Hughes is back to stalking. He steps in to land a right hook. They trade jabs but Hughes’s pushes Usman back. Usman lands a right leg kick, a jab, and weaves into throwing a right hand. Usman jabs and Hughes answers back by pushing Usman back with two jabs.
Through both fights Usman’s best takedown entry was his head outside single.
Hughes is inching to Usman. Usman jabs. Hughes slips it and leaps into a hook. Hughes jabs at Usman to keep him on the cage. Hughes cuts off Usman circling. Usman throws a right and leans in. Hughes swing another wide left hook. Usman shoots a head outside single and runs Hughes to the fence.
A lot of athletes shy away from shooting head outside singles and high crotches in MMA and submission grappling because of guillotines and other front head lock submissions. But if you lift your opponent or run to the back side like Usman does above, you can’t really get choked effectively. Daniel Cormier is another fighter who shot with his head outside and no one got close to submitting him.
Even with Usman’s grappling ability he hardly secured the back through both fights.
Hughes throws an inside leg kick. Usman stomps with his lead leg, Hughes swings a wide hook, and Usman is under it. Usman runs Hughes to the floor. Hughes stands and Usman locks a body triangle with his outside leg threaded between Hughes’s legs. Hughes walks to the cage. Usman breaks him down by threatening a choke and grabbing Hughes’s leg.
Let’s look at why Hughes was so effective at keeping Usman off of his back.
Paul Hughes Back Defense
In Usman and Hughes’s first fight, Hughes hit a classic wrestler’s switch to win an exchange.
Usman is driving Hughes into the cage. Hughes separates. Usman reshoots and trips Hughes with a kosoto gake. Hughes bounces off the floor but Usman secures a rear body lock. Hughes reaches behind him with his left to hit a switch and get behind Usman.
But the clearest biggest development either fighter made between the first and second fights was Hughes’s turtle and quad pod defense. He was able to shake Hughes off of his back just by getting his hands to the mat and fighting from there.
Usman switches his stance, jabs, and drops to a head outside single. Then he runs Hughes to turtle. Hughes stays tight to defend hooks. Then he pikes up and pulls Usman’s right hook out to misalign his hips. Usman falls off of Hughes’s back.
Sometimes it pays to go with your opponent and beat them to the next spot.
Hughes knocks Usman back with a hard jab. Hughes throws a couple of kicks before Usman shoots under his left hand. Hughes turns away, puts his hands to the mat, and hits something like a sloppy cartwheel to escape. Usman shoots again and Hughes just stuffs his head down to free his leg.
These fights were instant classics. Not the most high octane violence you’ll ever see but two fantastic technical exchanges spread across 50 minutes.
If you want some ideas on how to defend turtle, turn strikes into proper head outside shots, and the value of rooting into straight punches against grapplers, you have to go back to watch these.
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